Pope Leo XIV’s 2026 World Day of Peace message rejects nuclear deterrence and militarization, calling for disarmament, dialogue, and heart conversion amid rising global fears.
Newsroom (18/12/2025 Gaudium Press )In his inaugural Message for the World Day of Peace, observed annually on January 1, Pope Leo XIV has issued a profound call for an “unarmed and disarming” peace, warning against the escalating cycle of fear, rearmament, and the normalization of war in international relations.
Released on December 8, 2025, from the Vatican, the message titled “Peace be with you all: Towards an ‘unarmed and disarming’ peace” centers on the greeting of the Risen Christ—”Peace be with you!”—as a transformative force that actively disrupts violence through moral clarity, dialogue, and inner conversion rather than military might.
Pope Leo XIV, reflecting on a world gripped by instability, describes Christian peace as “unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering.” He emphasizes that it stems from God’s unconditional love and manifests through witnesses who resist darkness even amid what his predecessor Pope Francis termed “a third world war fought piecemeal.”
A central theme of the message is the corrosive role of fear in sustaining conflict. The Pope critiques the doctrine of military deterrence, particularly nuclear deterrence, as rooted in “the irrationality of relations between nations, built not on law, justice and trust, but on fear and domination by force.” Such an approach, he argues, fosters instability rather than genuine security.
Quoting Saint John XXIII’s encyclical Pacem in Terris, Pope Leo XIV notes that peoples live “in the grip of constant fear,” aware of weapons capable of catastrophic destruction and the risk of war igniting “by some chance and unforeseen circumstance.” He underscores this concern with stark data: global military expenditure surged by 9.4 percent in 2024, reaching $2.718 trillion—equivalent to 2.5 percent of global GDP—resources diverted toward “instruments of death” instead of human development.
The message laments a cultural shift where preparedness for war is deemed prudent and disarmament naïve. When peace ceases to be “a reality that is lived, cultivated and protected,” aggression permeates domestic and public life, undermining diplomacy and international law. Pope Leo XIV warns that confrontational logic now dominates global politics, exacerbated by emerging technologies like artificial intelligence in military applications—a “destructive betrayal of the legal and philosophical principles of humanism” that delegates life-and-death decisions to machines while economic interests fuel rearmament.
Drawing on the Gospel, the Pope reaffirms the link between peace and nonviolence. “The peace of the risen Jesus is unarmed,” he writes, recalling Christ’s command to Peter: “Put your sword back into its sheath.” In a world equating strength with domination, goodness itself becomes disarming—exemplified by God’s incarnation as a defenseless child in Bethlehem.
Pope Leo XIV advocates “integral disarmament,” extending beyond weapons to the human soul, echoing John XXIII: “Unless this process of disarmament be thoroughgoing and complete, and reach people’s very souls, it is impossible to stop the arms race.” True peace, he insists, rests not on equal armaments but “only in mutual trust,” requiring renewal of minds and hearts to replace suspicion with openness.
Religions bear particular responsibility, the Pope states, to reject justifications of violence in faith’s name and instead serve as “houses of peace” through dialogue, justice, and forgiveness. He urges political leaders to revitalize diplomacy, mediation, and international law, decrying the erosion of treaties and supranational institutions.
Concluding on a note of hope during the Jubilee of Hope, Pope Leo XIV invokes the prophetic vision of swords beaten into plowshares (Isaiah 2:4). Peace, he affirms, “exists; it wants to dwell within us.” Humanity’s task is not to invent it but to welcome it, allowing it “to disarm us” through personal, communal, and political choices.
The message, signed “LEO PP. XIV,” invites all—believers and nonbelievers alike—to protect this “small flame” of peace amid global storms, fostering initiatives that counter despair and promote nonviolent participation and restorative justice.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican news
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