Pope Leo yesterday condemned political leaders who invoke religious beliefs to justify conflicts or nationalist policies, describing such practices as a form of blasphemy - a grave sin that shows disrespect for or offends God.
Leo, the first pope from the United States, did not name specific leaders in a message released ahead of the Catholic Church's World Day of Peace, which is celebrated on January 1, but he called on believers to resist any such abuse of faith, Reuters reported.
"Unfortunately, it is increasingly common for the language of religion to be drawn into political battles, for nationalism to be blessed, and for violence and armed struggle to be justified in the name of religion," the pope said.
"Believers must actively reject, above all through the testimony of their own lives, these forms of blasphemy that desecrate the holy name of God," he added.
In that message, which the head of the Church with 1,4 billion believers publishes every year, Leo also warned against the use of artificial intelligence in warfare.
“There is… an increasing tendency among political and military leaders to avoid responsibility, as life and death decisions are increasingly ‘delegated’ to machines,” the pope said.
"This represents a devastating and unprecedented betrayal of the legal and philosophical principles of humanism that form the foundation and protect every civilization."
Leo, who was elected by the world's cardinals in May as the successor to the late Pope Francis, has spoken several times in the first year of his pontificate about the challenges posed by artificial intelligence.
He also condemned violence in the name of religion during his first foreign trip as pope, telling Christian leaders across the Middle East in Turkey last month that they must "strongly reject the use of religion to justify war, violence or any form of fundamentalism."
In the new message, the pope also expressed regret over the global growth in military spending, citing data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, according to which global military spending increased by 9,4 percent in 2024, reaching a total of $2,7 trillion, or 2,5 percent of global GDP.
Lav warned of the "logic of confrontation (that) now dominates global politics, deepening instability and unpredictability day by day."
The Pope on Thursday, in a surprise move, replaced Cardinal Timothy Dolan as head of the Catholic Church in New York, sidelining one of the most prominent church dignitaries in the United States in a major shake-up at the top of the country's Catholic leadership. He named a relatively little-known priest from Illinois, Bishop Ronald Hicks, to replace Dolan as head of the country's second-largest Catholic diocese, home to about 2,8 million faithful.
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