Pope John XXIII broadcast the following message in French over Vatican Radio at noon on Thursday, Oct. 25, 1962, three days after President Kennedy announced the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba and two days before Khrushchev proposed the missile exchange that ended the crisis. The Holy See publishes it in French and Spanish only; the English below is our translation from the French original. It is the precedent named in the Aug. 19 open letter asking Pope Leo XIV to convene the heads of state of the three principal nuclear powers.
“Lord, hear the supplication of Thy servant, the supplication of Thy servants, who fear Thy name” (Nehemiah 1:11).
This ancient biblical prayer rises today to our trembling lips from the depths of a heart moved and afflicted.
While the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council has just opened, amid the joy and hope of all men of good will, threatening clouds again darken the international horizon and sow fear in millions of families.
The Church—as We said again in welcoming the eighty-six extraordinary Missions present at the opening of the Council—the Church has nothing so much at heart as peace and brotherhood among men, and she works untiringly to establish them. We recalled on that occasion the grave duties of those who bear the responsibility of power. And We added: “Hand on conscience, let them heed the anguished cry which, from every point of the earth, from innocent children to the aged, from individuals to communities, rises toward Heaven: peace! peace!”
We renew today this solemn adjuration. We beseech all rulers not to remain deaf to this cry of humanity. Let them do all that lies within them to save peace. They will thus spare the world the horrors of a war whose frightful consequences no one can foresee.
May they continue to negotiate, for this loyal and open attitude has great value as testimony for the conscience of each and before history. Promoting, fostering, and embracing dialogue—at every level and at all times—is a rule of wisdom and prudence that draws down the blessing of heaven and earth.
May all Our children, all those marked with the seal of baptism and nourished by Christian hope, and finally all those united to Us by faith in God, join their prayer to Ours to obtain from Heaven the gift of peace—a peace which will be true and lasting only if it is founded upon justice and equity. And to all the artisans of this peace, to all those who with sincere heart labor for the true good of men, may there go the great blessing which We grant them with love in the name of Him who willed to be called the “Prince of Peace”! (Isaiah 9:6).
