Pope Leo XIV urges Europe to revive Christian roots for peace in wars
Pope Leo XIV on Monday urged Europe to draw on its Christian roots and traditions of dialogue to counter the "desire for domination" that he said was driving today’s wars, as he wrapped up his four-day visit to France. Ending the trip in Metz, the American pope honoured Robert Schuman, the French Catholic statesman seen as one of the founding fathers of European unity after World War II.
Leo used the visit to renew his appeal for Europe to respond to Russia’s war in Ukraine and other conflicts by returning to the values that shaped its peaceful integration. He said, "Over the past 80 years, Europe has amply demonstrated that it is possible to articulate divergent opinions, claims and interests through encounter rather than conflict." He added, "We need to commit ourselves to patient dialogue, to show courage in negotiation and to be willing to give up some positions for the greater good of peace."
Leo travelled to the eastern French city near the borders with Luxembourg and Germany to attend an event at a conference centre named after Schuman. The Elysee Palace had invited all European Union heads of state and the heads of European institutions, but only a handful joined President Emmanuel Macron, including leaders from smaller states such as Monaco, Andorra and Luxembourg.
The pope’s visit to officially secular but once strongly Catholic France was marked by repeated calls to remember Europe’s Christian heritage and apply it to today’s ethical and geopolitical challenges. On Sunday, at the Catholic shrine in Lourdes, he criticised legislation recently approved in France allowing medically assisted dying, calling it immoral and "false compassion".
Large crowds turned out through the visit, with 800,000 people attending Leo’s Mass at Place de la Concorde in Paris, according to organisers. On Monday morning, his Air France charter was escorted by two French fighter jets on the flight from Lourdes to Metz. Macron posted a photograph of the plane taken from one of the jets and wrote, "Welcome to Metz, Holy Father." Later on Monday, Leo was to celebrate Mass at the cathedral of St Stephen in Metz, a major example of French Gothic architecture known for its high vaults and stained-glass windows, some designed by Marc Chagall. Its coloured glass has earned it the nickname "Lanterne du Bon Dieu", or "The Good Lord’s Lantern".
Schuman is best known for the 1950 Schuman Declaration, made five years after the end of World War II. It proposed a European Coal and Steel Community that would combine production between historic rivals France and Germany. The idea was based on the belief that shared economic interests would make another conflict between them "not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible". That body became the first in a line of European institutions that later led to the European Union. Schuman, a resistance fighter who was imprisoned by the Nazis, was declared "venerable" by the Catholic Church in 2021.
Leo praised Schuman in particular for his respect for international law while pursuing peaceful integration. He said international law and multilateralism "constitute the best antidote to the desire for domination, which lies at the root of every conflict". He also said relations between states were becoming "increasingly uncivilised". "The value of keeping one’s word is dismissed; instead, people boast of lies and deceit," he said.
In a separate meeting on Monday, Leo urged French religious leaders to preach peace and unity. Referring again to Schuman’s example of dialogue among rivals, he said faith leaders shared a responsibility to build friendships across borders in the cause of peace. "Indeed, to invoke God’s name in order to justify violence or oppression is to profane that name," he said. "Religious discourse must constantly call for the disarmament of hearts and words." As he ended his France visit in Metz, Leo’s message remained that Europe should meet present conflicts with dialogue, law and a commitment to peace.
