Pope Francis: With war we all lose

By Lisa Zengarini

Pope Francis has penned the preface to a new book by Italian Vaticanist journalist Francesco Grana of “Il Fatto Quotidiano“ newspaper,  gathering his countless appeals for peace in Ukraine. Entitled Un’enciclica sulla pace in Ucraina (“An Enclyclical on Peace in Ukraine”), the book is published by Edizioni Terra Santa.

The book

It will be officially launched on December 6 at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Montesanto in Rome, in the presence of Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, together with the rector of the Basilica, Mgr Walter Insero; Fr. Ruslan Mykhalkiv, rector of the Seminary of Vorzel, in Ukraine; and of Ukrainian artists Oleksandr Klymenko and Sonia Atlanova.   

In the preface, published on Monday by “Il Fatto Quotidiano”, Pope Francis reflects on hope in the Christian perspective, on the unjustifiability and senselessness of war, and on the duty of everybody to actively uphold peace.

Hope in the Christian perspective

The Pope significantly starts with a quote from the famous Italian novel “I Promessi Sposi” (“The Betrothed”), by Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni: "I have never found the Lord to begin a miracle without finishing it." He said this sentence inspired the motto he has chosen for the 2025 Jubilee Year: “Pilgrims of hope”.

He notes in this regard that Benedict XVI has offered us a marvellous encyclical on hope, Spe salvi, in which the Pope emeritus highlights the power of Christian hope amid adversities based on the confidence in the redemption of Christ, and on the “certainty that the Lord takes us by hand and lifts us up because He doesn't want us to remain on the ground”.

War offends the name of  God

In light of this, Pope Francis insists that no Christian can give a moral or religious justification to the "senseless and blasphemous" war in Ukraine, and of every war, which “offends the most holy name of God”.

With war, everyone loses

Citing Pope Pius XII's words on the eve of the outbreak of the Second World War, Pope Francis once again warns that “in war, everyone loses”, even “those who did not take part in it and who, in cowardly indifference, stood by and watched this horror without intervening to bring peace”.

Indeed, he says, “all of us, in whatever role, have the duty to be beacons of peace” and “no one is entitled to look the other way”

Pope Francis then thanks Francesco Antonio Grana for collecting his appeals and also ilfattoquotidiano.it  for giving wide resonance to his words in these over nine months of war.

We must not become accustomed to this piecemeal third world war

He  concludes the preface by reiterating his prayers for peace in Ukraine, and by once again urging everyone  “not to get  accustomed” to this piecemeal third world war, which, he says “is becoming a full-fledged third world war under our eyes”.