June 8, 2026
Pope Leo XIV waves after delivering a speech during a joint session of the Spanish Parliament at the Congress of Deputies in Madrid on June 8, 2026. Pope Leo XIV is visiting Spain June 6-12 with stops in Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands, where he will meet with migrants and organisations dedicated to helping them. (Photo by Yara Nardi / POOL / AFP)
Pope Leo XIV on Monday called global peace a “true moral imperative” and said weapons could only lead to a “temporary silence” not a “genuine and lasting peace”.
“Peace emerges as a political aspiration and, even more so, as a true moral imperative,” he said in a speech to the Spanish parliament, calling for “patient dialogue” instead of rearmament in Europe and beyond.
“Weapons may impose a temporary silence but they can never build a genuine and lasting peace,” he said.
