VATICAN CITY, Jan 9 (Reuters) – Pope Leo on Friday condemned the use of military force as a means of achieving diplomatic goals, delivering an exceptionally fiery annual foreign policy speech in which he also called for human rights to be protected in Venezuela.
Leo 14, the first pope from the United States, said the fragility of international organizations in the face of global conflicts is “a particular cause for concern.”
“A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus between all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force,” said Leo 14 to around 184 ambassadors accredited to the Vatican.
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“War is back in fashion and the zeal for war is spreading,” said the pope, who was elected pope in May.
“Respect the will” of Venezuelans
Referring to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by US forces on the orders of US President Donald Trump last weekend, the pope called on world governments to “respect the will” of the Venezuelan people from now on.
Nations must “safeguard the human and civil rights” of Venezuelans, Leão 14 added.
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The pontiff’s comments were part of a speech that is sometimes called the pope’s “state of the world” address. It was the first given by Leo 14, who was elected after the death of Pope Francis.
The ambassadors of the United States and Venezuela to the Holy See were among those present at the event.
Leo 14, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, served as a missionary in Peru for decades before becoming pope. He had already criticized some of Trump’s policies, particularly on immigration, but did not mention the president of the United States by name in his speech this Friday.
Leo 14 demonstrated a more discreet and diplomatic tone in the first eight months of his papacy, compared to his predecessor Francis, who often made headlines with off-the-cuff comments.
Inflamed tone
But in Friday’s 43-minute speech, Leo 14 struck a more inflammatory tone — firmly condemning the world’s ongoing conflicts, but also criticizing the practices of abortion, euthanasia and surrogate births.
In unusually firm language for a pontiff, Leo 14 also warned that freedom of expression is “rapidly shrinking” in Western countries.
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“A new Orwellian-style language is developing that, in an attempt to be increasingly inclusive, ends up excluding those who do not conform to the ideologies that fuel it,” he said.
The pope also criticized what he called ‘a subtle form of religious discrimination’ suffered by Christians in Europe and the Americas.
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee)
