The Schiller Institute today released the names of 85 prominent endorsers of the Institute’s Open letter to Pope Leo XIV from all over the world, as a spur to broader circulation of the Letter and the addition of many further endorsers. These names were selected from over 600 current total signers. The Institute stresses the urgency of this effort in light of the unimaginable civilian death toll and suffering in Gaza, as the Israeli government’s policy of genocide and ethnic cleansing intensifies, and other conflicts, such as that in Ukraine, continue to menace humanity with the specter of nuclear war. The letter has been translated into Spanish, French, German, Swedish, Arabic, and Portuguese, so far.
The Schiller Institute letter begins, “We the undersigned, wholeheartedly welcome your Holiness to your Pontificate in these present extremely turbulent times, and we appreciate the fact that your first words were ‘Peace be with all of you.” It asserts that “You have offered to facilitate peace talks among countries at war, continuing the mandate of Pope Francis, who had made peace an urgent demand in his last Urbi et Orbi message, and continuously denounced the arms trade, as well as those who profit from war.” It continues, “We wish to communicate to your Holiness our commitment to try everything in our power, to reach out to all Christians, as well as believers of other religions and world outlooks, to unify in an effort to establish a true peace order in the world, one which eliminates the real causes for war by taking into account the valid security interests of all parties. But given the horrendous, satanic genocide going on in Gaza, and the unforgivable silence and inaction on the side of the governments in face of it, we also appeal to you to speak out on this ongoing genocide. We need a moral authority to condemn this genocide. Without that, we will lose any moral compass whatsoever.” It concludes, “We support the idea that ‘the new name for peace is development!’”
