Pope Leo XIV Warns Europe Against Illusion of Rearmament, Urges Negotiation

Pope Leo XIV, speaking in Metz, France, criticised Europe's rearmament drive, including the ReArm Europe plan and NATO's 5 percent of GDP spending target, and called for courage in negotiation. He also asked Christians to pray the Rosary for peace throughout October. The appeal shows a leading religious voice framing European military expansion and the pursuit of peace as a moral question, at a time when Europe is building common defence capacity and peace is increasingly discussed as a matter for institutions above nations.