Pope Leo XIV on Monday, 28 September 2026, called on the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to meet and engage in dialogue leading to an end to the war, which has continued for more than four years. He stressed the Catholic Church’s responsibility to continue calling for peace and respect for human life and dignity.
Papal warning over escalating arms race
The Pope made the comments during a press conference aboard the aircraft taking him from the French city of Metz to Rome, at the end of a four-day visit to France. He said Russian and Ukrainian leaders, along with the leaders of other countries, must seek ways to resolve problems without continuing wars that, he said, no longer made sense.
Leo XIV warned that some leaders had begun talking about nuclear weapons and increasingly destructive wars, stressing the need for a voice defending human dignity and the importance of life. He added that available resources could be directed more towards healthcare and education instead of allocating more of them to weapons.
The Pope said his position was not about taking a political side or staying away from politics, but about defending the values of peace and human life. He said the Catholic Church, which has around 1.4 billion members, was obliged to continue urging officials to meet, engage in dialogue and seek settlements that would bring conflicts to an end.
Call for Europe to negotiate and avoid rearmament
The Pope’s remarks aboard the aircraft followed an address he delivered at the Robert Schuman Conference Centre in Metz, in which he called on Europe to show patience and courage in negotiations and be prepared to abandon some positions for the common good and peace.
Leo XIV said war had returned to the European continent and was claiming civilian lives every day, but stressed at the same time that seeking peace did not mean adopting a naïve pacifist approach. He warned against believing that rearmament represented a solution, calling for practical and innovative efforts to prevent wars rather than merely preparing for new conflicts.
The Pope linked his appeal to the legacy of French politician Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of European unity after the Second World War, pointing to Europe’s experience of addressing differing views, demands and interests through meetings and dialogue rather than confrontation.
He stressed that respect for international law and multilateralism provided a means of confronting the desire for dominance that lay behind conflicts. He also called on young Europeans to take responsibility for promoting peace in their communities, schools, universities and cities, and not to surrender to the logic of violence and repression.
Vatican action to address humanitarian issues
The Pope’s appeal coincided with the start of Cardinal Matteo Zuppi’s visit to Moscow from 28 to 30 September. Zuppi, the Vatican’s special envoy for humanitarian issues, is holding meetings with Russian officials to discuss the situation of prisoners of war and children who were taken from their homes and separated from their families.
Zuppi said his mission, assigned to him by Pope Francis and later reaffirmed by Pope Leo XIV, aimed to help both sides address issues involving children, prisoner exchanges and the problems faced by civilians because of the war. He added that the Vatican was examining requests submitted by the Russian and Ukrainian sides and seeking to develop dialogue and help end the suffering caused by the fighting.
Zuppi’s current visit is his third to Moscow, following visits in June 2023 and October 2024.
He travelled to Ukraine in July 2026 and visited camps holding Russian prisoners of war in the Lviv region, as part of the Vatican’s humanitarian efforts to maintain channels of communication between Moscow and Kyiv.
