The following is a letter sent to Archbishop John Wester on July 24, 2026, urging him to appeal to Pope Leo XIV to convene an international peace conference. The Letter has been endorsed by many individuals and organizations, expressing urgent concern about the growing danger of nuclear war. Circulation of the Letter will continue over the coming days to galvanize increasing support for this appeal.
The full list of signers is available here.
July 24, 2026
Most Reverend John C. Wester, D.D.
Archdiocese of Santa Fe
Dear Archbishop Wester:
Congratulations on being named Pax Christi USA’s Teacher of Peace for 2026! It is such a well-deserved honor. Ever since your first trip to Japan and your pastoral letter, “Living in the Light of Christ’s Peace: A Conversation toward Nuclear Disarmament,” you have become a leading voice for the abolition of nuclear weapons in the Catholic Church and throughout the U.S. Establishing the “Partnership for a World without Nuclear Weapons” has extended that reach even farther. We are so pleased that you will be receiving this award in the coming months.
As you know, the threat of nuclear war seems to be increasing daily despite the 100 nations that have signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), 75 of whom have also ratified it. This year’s NPT Review Conference was a disappointment once again. New START was allowed to expire. Russia, the U.S., and Israel, all nuclear states, are at war. Finland’s president recently signed legislation to allow the import and transit of nuclear weapons. And Lithuanian leaders are said to have agreed to amend the constitution to allow Lithuania to host nuclear weapons in the future.
In short, we are getting as close to nuclear war as we were during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. That crisis ended with diplomacy that saved the planet, and Pope John XXIII was a key figure in making that happen. His influential role is not well known, but it was he who spoke out to set the needed moral tone that helped each side to act for peace.
This is how it developed: In fall 1962, Journalist Norman Cousins convened in Andover, MA, an informal discussion group of Soviet and American academicians. Providentially, they met on October 22, the evening Kennedy addressed the nation on the Soviet nuclear missile threat in Cuba and ordered the Navy to intercept any additional shipments.
Included among those invited by Cousins was a Vatican adviser to Pope John XXIII, Rev. Felix Morlion. He asked if a papal intervention might help defuse the situation. Cousins phoned the White House; a Soviet member of the informal group phoned Moscow. Both got a nihil obstat. Fr. Morlion notified the Vatican.
On October 25, Vatican Radio broadcast a strong appeal by Pope John for peace to world leaders, in particular Kennedy and Khrushchev. It stated in part: “With your hand on your conscience may each one hear the anguished cry which is raised to the skies from all parts of the earth: Peace, peace! We renew this solemn plea today.”
Pravda immediately printed the Pope’s message with a banner headline. And on October 28, when Khrushchev announced the pull-out of the missiles from Cuba, Pravda reprinted the Pope’s message, praising the Pope’s “realism on the question of peace.” In turn, the United States withdrew missiles from Turkey. Hundreds of millions gave a sigh of relief, and negotiations between the US and the USSR led to the first nuclear test ban in 1963.
Weeks later, Khrushchev told Cousins how much he admired Pope John, saying: “During that week of the Cuban missile crisis the Pope’s appeal was a real ray of light. I was grateful for it.”
Several years after that, Khrushchev’s son Sergey said that the words of Pope John XXIII were strongly persuasive on the consciences of people, especially those of his father and Kennedy.
With this in mind, we were thinking it might be time for something similar to happen today. Might Pope Leo XIV call for a Peace Conference to withdraw nuclear weapons from the Russian border and call for the abolition of nuclear weapons worldwide? He already suggested something along these lines at the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki when he prayed that the bombings would “serve as a call to the international community to renew its commitment to pursuing lasting peace for our whole human family—‘a peace that is unarmed and disarming.’” Perhaps the Vatican or another neutral location such as Vienna or Geneva could be the venue.
Would you be able to help bring this recommendation to Pope Leo? We believe you, as a strong and highly-respected advocate for the abolition of nuclear weapons, would be the ideal diplomat to encourage Pope Leo to bring Putin, Trump, and Xi Jinping together to plan an end to nuclear weapons and to pave a new road of economic conversion from a war economy to economic development for all people everywhere. Your intercession and the strong leadership of Pope Leo could move us away from the sheer madness we are now experiencing.
Sincerely,
Jack Gilroy, Pax Christi New York State Council; Veterans For Peace;
Ban Killer Drones; International Peace Coalition of the Schiller Institute
Rosemarie Pace, Ed.D., PCNYS Coordinator; Pax Christi USA Palestine Solidarity Working Group; Pax Christi International Sudan Working Group
In collaboration with The Pax Christi New York State Council
