Speaking in Metz at the close of a four-day visit to France, Pope Leo XIV urged European and world leaders to favor dialogue and multilateralism over rearmament and the drive for domination that fuels conflict.
Pope Leo told leaders that seeking peace should not be dismissed as naive pacifism and warned against treating rearmament as the solution.
He argued dialogue and multilateral cooperation are the best defenses against a 'desire for domination' that underlies war.
His choice of Metz and the Robert Schuman conference center invoked the postwar European project of linking nations to prevent conflict.
Pope Leo XIV ended a four-day visit to France in Metz, a border city with a history of shifting control between France and Germany. He spoke at the Robert Schuman convention center, invoking the legacy of Schuman, whose postwar proposals to link coal and steel industries laid groundwork for European integration.
Core message: peace, dialogue, multilateralism
The pope warned that international relations "are becoming increasingly barbaric" and described multilateral dialogue as "the best antidote to the desire for domination, which lies at the root of every conflict." He said pursuing peace should not be mistaken for a naive form of pacifism. Instead, leaders must resist the idea that building up arms is the answer and ask whether their policies truly work toward peace or simply prepare for assumed future wars.
Security policy and current tensions
Pope Leo linked his remarks to contemporary developments: the war in Ukraine and recent reductions in U.S. military support for Europe under the Trump administration. Those shifts have coincided with pledges by France and Germany to increase military spending, part of a broader trend of European rearmament. The pope urged leaders to guard against the illusion that rearmament will deliver stability.
Symbolism of Metz and the European project
By speaking in Metz, rather than European institutional centers like Brussels or Strasbourg, the pope emphasized reconciliation and the historical effort to prevent future wars. Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille explained that Metz had been chosen to "discuss war and peace, Europe, and reconciliation," and that the city's past made it a fitting place to recall the founding values of European unity.
French President Emmanuel Macron attended and said Europe must not give in to isolationism, hatred, or divisive nationalism. His remarks came amid an electoral context in which far-right criticism of the European Union is politically salient. The pope's defense of multilateralism and rejection of domination aligned with calls to uphold cooperative European institutions and shared values.
Religious dimension: interfaith appeal and moral limits on violence
Before celebrating Mass in Metz, Pope Leo met with interreligious leaders and said invoking God to justify violence or oppression profanes the divine. "Nothing that disfigures human dignity can claim to be inspired by God," he said, calling on religious discourse to promote the "disarmament of hearts and words." This linked spiritual responsibility to political and diplomatic efforts for peace.
Pope Leo used the symbolic setting of Metz and Schuman's legacy to make a practical case: international dialogue and multilateral institutions remain necessary tools to curb ambitions for domination and to pursue durable peace. He cautioned that military build-up alone risks preparing for more war rather than preventing it, and he asked both political and religious leaders to reaffirm commitments to cooperation and human dignity.
Pope Leo XIV is urging Europe to draw from its Christian roots and traditions of dialogue to confront the thirst for domination driving today's wars.
In an address to European leaders in Metz, France, Pope Leo told negotiators seeking to end war in Europe that they must be willing to sacrifice some positions to achieve peace, as efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine continue to fail. He urged leaders to recall the founding values of the EU, including the rule of la
Pope Leo XIV urged Europe on Monday to draw from its Christian roots and tradition of dialogue to blunt the “desire for domination” driving today's wars, as he wrapped up a visit to France by recalling the forces that contributed to the continent's peaceful integration.
Speaking at an interfaith meeting in Metz, he urged religious leaders to foster a path to friendship, peace, and brotherhood.
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