Pope Leo XIV received a sustained standing ovation, lasting for more than six minutes, at the end of his address to the Spanish Parliament on Monday. The Chamber was full, with the members of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate and leading members of the judiciary and government present. He had come, he said, to offer them “a reflection born of the desire to serve the common good and to recall that which makes human coexistence truly human.”
The Pope reminded his audience that the decisions they make, as legislators, are ultimately based on “a decisive question: What conception of the human person inspires laws, and what kind of society do those laws build?” Throughout his address, he insisted that “dignity, justice and the common good should be the measure of social relations, both at the national and international levels.” He invited the legislators “to lift your gaze to the world around you, not to turn away from reality, but to remember that every decision by public authorities affects real people, especially those who have less power to make their voices heard.”
The Pope stressed that addressing the “profound spiritual and cultural crisis” facing the world today will require “a moral renewal,” not merely technical and legal changes. Overcoming the “multiple forms of violence, polarization and mutual distrust” in international affairs as within different societies requires dialogue, and the resolution of conflicts by listening and “recognizing the needs, aspirations and capabilities of all.”
Peace has become a “true moral imperative,” he insisted. “Every war constitutes, ultimately, a painful defeat of the capacity to negotiate and also of that common human consciousness that recognizes bonds of justice among nations. Weapons may impose a temporary silence; but they can never build a genuine and lasting peace.”
Here, he specifically named Europe’s rearmament drive:
“It is therefore a cause for concern that, in various parts of the world—and in Europe as well—rearmament is once again being presented as an almost inevitable response to the fragility of the international situation. True security, however, stems from justice, patient dialogue, respect for international law, and a policy capable of placing the lives of peoples above the interests that profit from war.”
