“DELUSION OF OMNIPOTENCE”

Responsibility also fell to the “immense multitude” that rejects war, Leo said, urging them to build a “Kingdom of peace…in our homes, schools, neighbourhoods, and civil and religious communities.”

“A Kingdom that counters polemics and resignation through friendship and a culture of encounter. Let us believe once again in love, moderation and good politics.” 

The pope described the Kingdom of God as a “bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive.”

It also was a place with “no sword, no drone, no vengeance, no trivialisation of evil, no unjust profit, but only dignity, understanding and forgiveness.”

Leo painted a grim picture of the current state of the world, “where there never seem to be enough graves, for people continue to crucify one another and eliminate life, with no regard to justice and mercy.”

Pope Leo, who was elected pontiff last May following the death of his predecessor Francis, is moderate and known as a bridge-builder. But he has been increasingly denouncing the conflicts dividing the world, most recently on Friday when he railed against the “senseless and inhuman violence” spreading across the Holy Land. 

Leo has repeatedly urged de-escalation in the current US-Israeli war on Iran and the need for a diplomatic solution.