'A zeal for war' - Pope

POPE Leo XIV has denounced how nations are using force to assert their dominion worldwide, saying they are "completely undermining" peace and the post-Second World War international legal order.

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In his most substantial critique of United States, Russian and other military incursions in sovereign countries, Leo told ambassadors who represent their countries' interests at the Holy See that "war is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading".

Leo did not name individual countries that have resorted to force in his lengthy speech, the bulk of which he delivered in English in a break from the Vatican's traditional diplomatic protocol of Italian and French.