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Pope Leo XIV’s Address to the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See immediately presents itself as a cornerstone of the new pontificate: a path clearly outlined, which highlights the urgency of building a world founded not on domination, but on Peace, Justice, and Truth.
Peace: A Gift and a Responsibility
The word peace, too often reduced to a mere “truce”, has been restored to its full Christian meaning by Leo XIV. He defined it as the first gift of Christ: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you” (Jn 14:27). But peace, he emphasised, is not a passive or theoretical good: it is an active gift, calling every person to inner conversion.
Peace is built first and foremost in the heart, by uprooting pride, measuring one’s words, and purifying one’s intentions. In this light, Leo XIV reaffirmed the importance of the contribution of religions and interreligious dialogue in building peace, in full harmony with the teachings of Leo XIII, who in Catholicae Ecclesiae acknowledged the dignity of distant peoples and the need for patient and respectful dialogue.
The Pope strongly condemned the arms race, stressing the need for true disarmament, which is not a pacifist illusion but a political and moral responsibility. “No peace is possible without real disarmament,” he reminded, echoing the warning of his predecessor. In a time marked by forgotten conflicts and resurfacing tensions, Leo XIV calls for the revival of multilateral diplomacy, because meeting matters more than clashing.
Justice: The Root of Peace
Justice, Leo XIV underlined, has a concrete face: it is the face of the marginalised, of exploited workers, of ignored migrants, of wounded families. It is the voice of the forgotten elderly, the lonely sick, the hopeless unemployed. Yet each one of them – the Pope strongly affirmed – retains an intact ontological dignity, as a creature willed and loved by God. This vision is not an abstract principle but the very foundation of a just society. And the family, he added, is the first place where this justice is learned and lived.
For this reason, Leo XIV stated clearly: “This can first be done by investing in the family, founded on the stable union between a man and a woman, a ‘small but true society, prior to any civil society’.” A declaration that echoes not only the teaching of Leo XIII, but the entire tradition of the Church, including the recent magisterium of Pope Francis, who – also in Amoris Laetitia – reaffirmed that there is no other family than that between a man and a woman.
However, these very words have sparked, in recent hours, a wave of reactions – headlines, articles, posts, and videos – in which some have accused the Pope of wanting to exclude or target the LGBTQ+ community. This is a distortion that reveals a serious risk to public life: the difficulty of listening, of distinguishing, of welcoming different thought without immediately resorting to conflict. In this context, the words recently spoken by Leo XIV to the press are especially relevant: “Let us disarm communication from all prejudice, resentment, fanaticism, and hatred; let us purify it of aggressiveness. We do not need a loud, forceful communication, but rather a communication capable of listening, of amplifying the voice of the voiceless. Let us disarm words, and we will help disarm the Earth.” Yes, perhaps we truly need to learn how to disarm words. To understand that affirming a principle – in this case, a consistent doctrinal and anthropological principle of the Church – does not mean attacking someone. Expressing one’s faith is not an act of exclusion, but one of fidelity. And defending the Christian vision of the family is not a declaration of hostility, but a witness that can and must coexist with respect for every person, in whatever condition they may be.
In this sense, the family founded on the stable union between a man and a woman – Leo XIV explained – is not an ideology to be pitted against other views, but an anthropological and spiritual reality that the Church has a duty to safeguard. It is the first place where life is transmitted, where responsibility is learned, where justice is taught. It is the first “school” of justice. That is why any genuine policy for justice must begin there: by supporting families, recognising their irreplaceable value, and protecting their rights, including social and labour rights, which are too often neglected today. It is not about closing off, but about building upon what generates. Justice that forgets the family – Leo XIV essentially said – forgets itself.
Truth: The Foundation of Relationships
The third pillar of Leo XIV’s address is Truth. And paradoxically, the overblown reaction of some media outlets – which have taken his words out of context and distorted them for sensational headlines – confirms its urgency. In an age marked by linguistic ambiguity, digital misinformation, and perceptual manipulation of reality, the Pope gave a stern warning: “Truly peaceful relationships cannot be built without truth.” Truth – he explained – is not an ideology, nor an abstract concept. It is a Person: Christ Himself. Only from this truth can relationships become authentic and peoples reconciled. For this reason, truth cannot be separated from charity: the two walk hand in hand. Yet, precisely because it is inspired by charity, truth may require frank, direct, and sometimes uncomfortable language. Not to wound, but to build. Not to divide, but to liberate.
Here too one can hear an echo of Benedict XVI, who in Caritas in Veritate wrote: “Only in truth does charity shine forth and can it be authentically lived. Truth is the light that gives meaning and value to charity. This light is both that of reason and faith, through which the intellect comes to grasp the natural and supernatural truth of charity: it perceives its meaning as gift, acceptance, and communion.”
This is the truth which, according to Leo XIV, can guide us in confronting the major challenges of our time: the complexity of migration, the ethical use of artificial intelligence, the defence of human dignity and of creation. A truth that does not impose itself by force, but presents itself clearly. A truth that does not shout, but illuminates.
A New Beginning in Hope
Leo XIV proposes a diplomacy of the heart: humble, courageous, universal. It is the diplomacy of the Holy See, which does not pursue partisan interests, but places itself at the service of humanity, wherever it may be found: in the poor, in the migrant, in the sick, even in the diplomat.
A speech that is already a programme of hope. Not a political programme, but a deeply evangelical one. An invitation to rediscover, as Christians and as citizens of the world, that true civilisation is built on the truth that liberates, the justice that builds, and the peace that unites.
Marco Felipe Perfetti
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