Pope Leo XIV reiterated his predecessor Francis' call for an end to the arms race during an audience with diplomats accredited to the Vatican, the Italian news agency ANSA reported, quoted by BTA.
"There must also be determination to stop the production of instruments of destruction and death, because, as Pope Francis noted in his latest message: peace is not possible without true disarmament. The requirement that each nation take care of its own defense must not become an arms race," the new pontiff said.
He also stressed the importance of justice in achieving peace.
"The work for peace requires acting justly," the pope said, urging leaders to work to build harmonious and peaceful civil societies.
"This can be achieved above all by investing in the family, based on the stable union between a man and a woman, a small but true society and, above all, a civil society," he added.
"Furthermore, no one is exempt from the desire to guarantee respect for the dignity of every person, especially the weakest and most vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, both citizens and immigrants. My own story is the story of a citizen, a descendant of immigrants, who in turn chose to emigrate," Pope Leo XIV also said.
"Each of us, in the course of our lives, can find ourselves healthy or sick, working or unemployed, living in our own country or in a foreign country, but our dignity always remains unchanged: it is the dignity of a creature desired and loved by God," he concluded.
Meanwhile, Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said that a one-on-one meeting between the Pope and US Secretary of State J.D. Vance during the inauguration ceremony of Pope Leo XIV on Sunday was possible. Parolin, however, specified that there were many delegations, the time was very tight, and therefore it remains to be seen whether such a meeting would take place.