“Only peace is holy” Pope Leo spells out opposition to the culture of power.

Pope Leo XIV has issued a forceful rejection of religious justifications for armed conflict, telling an interfaith gathering in Assisi that “there is no such thing as a holy war” and that “only peace is holy.” His message came as the Vatican intensified humanitarian efforts in Ukraine amid a localised ceasefire in the southern city of Oleshky.

The pope had been due to attend the meeting in person but cancelled after undergoing surgery on 13 October for lung cancer. Instead, he addressed delegates by video from the Vatican, urging religious leaders to reject what he called a “culture of power” and to rebuild peace rather than prepare for further wars.

A warning to political leaders

Leo’s intervention was aimed squarely at the use of faith to legitimise violence. “War can never be waged in the name of God,” he said, adding that for believers, “fighting in the name of religion actually means striking at religion itself.”

He denounced a “troubling revival of war as an instrument of international politics” and called on states to pursue mediation and dialogue rather than militarisation. “We must rebuild peace everywhere, not prepare for more wars,” he told the gathering.

The remarks carry particular resonance against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Parts of the Russian Orthodox establishment have framed the war as a “holy war” against a West portrayed as morally corrupt. Leo has repeatedly rejected such claims, including in his May encyclical Magnifica humanitas, which warned that “sanctified hatred” has no place in authentic religious traditions.

Assisi’s legacy

The meeting marked the 40th anniversary of a landmark Day of Prayer for Peace convened in Assisi by Pope John Paul II on 27 October 1986. That gathering brought together Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and other religious leaders at a time when joint prayer across faiths was highly controversial within the Catholic Church.

The 2026 meeting, organised by the Community of Sant’Egidio under the title “Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” included the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, alongside Muslim, Buddhist and other Christian representatives. Organisers presented it as a continuation of the “spirit of Assisi”: the idea that religions should draw on their own traditions to resist hatred, dehumanisation and violence.

Leo’s message echoed that inheritance. He invited participants to become “unarmed instruments of the Lord’s peace,” framing interreligious cooperation not as a vague moral appeal but as a practical counterweight to nationalist and sectarian politics.

Ukraine aid stepped up

The pope’s peace appeal coincided with a new Vatican humanitarian mission to Ukraine. Monsignor Luis Marín de San Martín, the pope’s chief almsgiver, began a three-day visit on Tuesday, bringing trucks of winter clothing, blankets and food to be distributed in Kyiv.

Marín de San Martín is scheduled to visit Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Fastiv. He said the delegation wanted to meet local people directly and convey the pope’s concern to those enduring the war. “In their suffering, they are not alone,” he told Vatican News.

The mission follows Leo’s call for a ceasefire, food and medicine deliveries, and the safe, voluntary evacuation of civilians in Oleshky. During a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 16 October, initiated while the pope was still recovering in hospital, Leo pressed for those humanitarian measures. Three days later, he spoke to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, repeating the appeal and urging cooperation between the parties.

The Vatican’s diplomatic activity has also continued through Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the papal envoy for the Russia-Ukraine war, who completed his third mission to Moscow on 30 September — his first under Leo’s pontificate.

Pope recovering after surgery

Leo’s absence from Assisi followed surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital to remove the lower lobe of his right lung after doctors identified a malignant tumour. The Vatican said the operation was successful, that the cancer was a localised lung adenocarcinoma, and that no further treatment was required.

Doctors advised against the helicopter journey to Assisi as a precaution during his recovery, but the Vatican has since confirmed that the pope intends to proceed with a planned visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru beginning on 6 November.

For a pope less than 18 months into his pontificate, the Assisi message served both as a statement of doctrine and a political intervention. Leo sought to draw a clear line between faith and militarism at a moment when religious language is being used by governments and armed movements to sanctify war. His answer was blunt: peace, not violence, is what deserves to be called holy.