Pope Francis: War is a defeat for humanity and a deception

By Lisa Zengarini

Participants in the second World Meeting on human fraternity met with Pope Francis on Saturday, marking the second and final day of the event organized by the "Fratelli Tutti Foundation".

Under the banner #BeHuman, scientists, economists, businessmen, athletes, and ordinary citizens hailing from various parts of the world are gathered in Rome for two days of discussions to seek alternatives to war and poverty, inspired by the principle of fraternity.  

The meeting kicked off on Friday with a “Peace roundtable” gathering 30 Peace Nobel laureats, which was opened by the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin,  and will be followed today by 12 thematic panels of discussion addressing several topics related to peace.

The Good Samaritan’s compassion key for peace

Welcoming the panellists in the Clementine Hall, the Pope warmly thanked them for gathering in Rome to reiterate their ‘no’ to war and ‘yes’ to peace, “testifying to the humanity that unites us and makes us recognize each other as  brothers, in the mutual gift of our respective cultural differences.”

Recalling Martin Luther King’s memorable words on the occasion of his awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 (“We have learned to fly like birds, to swim like fish, but we have not yet learned the simple art of living together as brothers”),  Pope Francis again pointed to the Good Samaritan’s compassion recounted in Jesus’ parable, as a key to recover “the art of a coexistence that is truly human.”

The Samaritan and the wounded Jew on the street, he noted , “have different and conflicting stories, but one becomes the other's brother the moment he lets himself be guided by the compassion he feels for him.”

Continue to silently sow peace and fraternity

As participants prepare to meet in their 12 thematic roundtables on Saturday afternoon, Pope Francis encouraged them to move forward in their work of “silent sowing.”

The Pope particularly acknowledged the Nobel Prize laureats, thanking them for their contribution to the Declaration on Human Fraternity released   on the occasion of their first Meeting in Rome in June  2023,and paid tribute to their new "Charter of Humanity" they have drafted  outlining the “grammar” of choices and behaviours to build fraternal coexistence in this time of uncertainty and fear.

He urged them to continue to cultivate this spirituality of fraternity and  to promote multilateralism with their diplomatic action, reaffirming, once again, that “war is a defeat”  and “a deception”, as is the idea of international security based on the deterrent of fear.”

Political peace needs peace of hearts

“To guarantee lasting peace we need to return to recognizing ourselves in common humanity and placing fraternity at the centre of the life of peoples,” he said. “Only in this way will we be able to develop a model of coexistence capable of giving a future to the human family.”

Let us learn from children

Referring to the roundtable with children he will join this evening, marking the second main event of the Meeting, Pope Francis concluded by inviting the attendees to learn from children: “Let us look at them, let us learn from them, as the Gospel teaches us,”, he said.

The roundtable on "Children: Future Generation," will take place in the New Synod Hall  at 5.00 pm.

The meeting will conclude with a concert in St Peter’s Square at 9.30 pm.