Vatican supports demonstrations in Italy for world peace

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, supported the demonstration against the rearmament in Europe and for world peace that toured the Rome streets through this weekend, a report states on Sunday.  

A Vatican News website release highlights that, in a meeting at the Capitol in this capital on Saturday, “in a global context marked by the recent escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran,” Cardinal Parolin considered it “positive that there is a general mobilization to prevent the arms race.”

During that meeting, which focused on “Ecological Debt,” the cardinal reiterated the urgent need for “a new look toward a new world, capable of carefully interpreting the challenges and signs of the times that can contribute to peace.”

The Vatican diplomat expressed that the fight against the arms race is an expression of the invitation to use funds allocated for arms to solve the problem of hunger, made by late Pope Francis in the May 2024 document “Spes Non Confundit” (Hope Does Not Disappoint), in which he announced and convened the Jubilee.

The Saturday national demonstration was organized by a broad network of Italian social organizations, left-wing parties, and peace groups as part of the protests against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, scheduled for June 24 and 25 in The Hague, the Netherlands.