Pope Leo Urges Europe to Dialogue, Blunts "Desire for Domination" in Wars

Pope Leo XIV urged Europe on Monday to draw from its Christian roots and tradition of dialogue to blunt the desire for domination driving today’s wars.

He wrapped up a four-day visit to France, recalling forces that contributed to the continent’s peaceful integration. Leo traveled to Metz, near the border with Luxembourg and Germany, to honor Robert Schuman, a French Catholic statesman regarded as a founding father of European unity after World War II. He decided to end his visit in Metz at a conference center named for Schuman to emphasize his appeal.

The American pope wants Europe to respond to wars and other conflicts, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, and migration challenges. He stated, "We need to commit ourselves to patient dialogue, to show courage in negotiation and to be willing to give up some positions for the greater good of peace." Élysée Palace invited all European Union heads of state and heads of European institutions to attend the conference, but only a handful from smaller states joined President Emmanuel Macron.

Leo's visit to France was marked by huge crowds, with 800,000 attending his Mass on Paris’ Place de la Concorde. On Monday morning, Leo’s Air France charter received a military escort of two French fighter jets. Separately, Pope Leo XIV insisted on Monday that fears about artificial intelligence (AI) and its possible threats to humanity are not fake news and should be taken seriously.

He appeared to rebuke US President Donald Trump, who has called concerns about AI going rogue a hoax and a "SICK conspiracy." Leo dedicated his first encyclical to AI and protecting humanity. He told reporters on his flight back to Rome that "This is a problem that, I think, we need to sit down and talk about."

Vice President JD Vance also stated, "I don’t think Americans should be scared of anything." Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò stated that Pope Leo XIV promotes the exact opposite of the Magisterium, criticizing his praise of the Enlightenment, religious liberty, and the UN’s human rights declaration.