Pope blasts 'irrationality' of military deterrence in first annual peace message

Pope Leo XIV insisted Thursday that peace was not only possible but necessary, as he blasted the "irrationality" of nuclear deterrence and the weaponization of faith in modern political discourse.

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Leo made the comments in his first peace message, an annual exhortation that the Vatican prepares ahead of each New Year's Day, when the Catholic Church marks its world day of peace.

In the short text, which was released at an emotional press conference, Leo reflected back on his first words as pope, uttered on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica on May 8: "Peace be with you."

In the message, Leo urged the faithful to not surrender to the idea that fear and darkness are normal, but to see peace as possible and realistic.

"When we treat peace as a distant ideal, we cease to be scandalized when it is denied, or even when war is waged in its name," he said.

He blasted how private economic and financial interests were driving countries toward technological military advances, powered also by artificial intelligence, that were fueling the "irrationality" of military deterrence.