The greatest weapons we have to achieve peace are spiritual, not material

My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

The seventh chapter of Pope Francis’s encyclical Fratelli Tutti (On Fraternity and Social Friendship) is especially timely and important because it discusses the horrors of war. Since the beginning of his pontificate, the Holy Father has urged the nations and peoples of the world—all of us—to “build bridges, not walls” and to recognize that we are truly sisters and brothers in the one family of God. Fratelli Tutti is a sustained reflection on the way we should treat one another, not as strangers or adversaries, but as family. 

Pope Francis argues forcefully that “war is the negation of all rights and a dramatic assault on the environment.” He makes the case that “if we want true integral human development for all, we must work tirelessly to avoid war between nations and peoples.” This means that “there is a need to ensure the uncontested rule of law and tireless recourse to negotiation, mediation and arbitration, as proposed by the Charter of the United Nations, which constitutes truly a fundamental juridical norm.” 

The Holy Father urges “tireless recourse” to productive, nonviolent means of resolving conflicts among nations. He warns us in no uncertain terms that war is evil, and that the use of unjust aggression in dealing with other nations is always a step backward for humanity and for civilization. Even the traditional criteria for what has been termed “just war” is questionable today. As Pope Francis writes, “At issue is whether the development of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and the enormous and growing possibilities offered by new technologies, have granted war an uncontrollable destructive power over great numbers of innocent civilians.” 

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