Commenting on his April prayer intention, Pope Francis said that “living, speaking, and acting without violence is not surrendering, losing or giving up anything, but aspiring to everything.”
Recalling St. John XXIII’s 1963 encyclical Pacem in Terris, Pope Francis said that “war is madness. It’s beyond reason. Any war, any armed confrontation, always ends in defeat for all.”
“Let us develop a culture of peace,” he continued. “Let us remember that, even in cases of self-defense, peace is the ultimate goal, and that a lasting peace can exist only without weapons. Let us make nonviolence a guide for our actions, both in daily life and in international relations.”