The Pope's cry at the peace vigil: 'In the kingdom of God neither sword nor drone'

Leo invokes peace, and says that in the Kingdom of God "there is no sword, no drone, no revenge, no unjust profit". The Pope concludes the Peace Vigil in St. Peter's Basilica, and his words are very clear: "We have here a curb to that delirium of omnipotence that around us is becoming more and more aggressive", and he adds that "even the Holy Name of God is dragged into the discourses of death, he who prays does not kill and does not threaten death". Instead, denounces Leo, "to death is enslaved those who have turned their backs on the living God, to make of themselves and their own power the mute, blind and deaf idol", "enough with the idolatry of self and money! Enough with the display of force! No more war!"

It is a true "manifesto" for peace, it recalls the appeals of Paul VI and John Paul II, and uses strong words: "Let us unite the moral and spiritual energies of millions, billions of men and women, of the elderly and the young, who today believe in peace, who today choose peace, who heal the wounds and repair the damage left by the folly of war. I receive so many letters from children from conflict zones: reading them one perceives, with the truth of innocence, all the horror and inhumanity of actions that some adults proudly boast of. Let us listen to the voice of the children!".

Announced on Easter Day, the Vigil for Peace - reminiscent of Francis' Vigil for Syria in 2013, albeit in different ways - coincides with the start of the meetings in Pakistan between the US and Iran, but certainly the focus is also on Lebanon. "Brothers and sisters, of course there are unavoidable responsibilities of the rulers of nations - clear reference to the Islamabad talks - To them we cry out: stop! It is time for peace! Sit at the tables of dialogue and mediation, not at the tables where rearmament is planned and actions of death are deliberated!"

And he adds: 'There is, however, no less great a responsibility on the part of all of us, men and women from so many different countries: an immense multitude that repudiates war, in deeds, not only in words. Prayer commits us to convert what remains violent in our hearts and minds: let us convert to a Kingdom of peace that is built day by day, in homes, schools, neighbourhoods, civil and religious communities, stealing ground from controversy and resignation with friendship and the culture of encounter. Let us return to a belief in love, in moderation, in good politics. Let us form and play ourselves, each responding to our own vocation. Everyone has their place in the mosaic of peace'.

Words that go to the heart of the pontificate and perhaps rewrite (in part) its agenda: 'Let us then look up! Let us rise from the rubble! Nothing can lock us into a destiny already written, not even in this world in which there seems to be no enough tombs, because we continue to crucify, to annihilate life, without right and without pity'.