The peacemaking process must be based on the right principles

By Msgr. John Wynand Katende

Posted on: Wednesday, 4th March 2026

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Pope Leo XIV and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have had several occasions to discuss the prospects of finding a lasting solution through diplomatic means. On one occasion, they met in the same place where Zelenskyy had sat with President Ronald Trump, during the funeral of Pope Francis. Zelenskyy thanked the pope for the Vatican's efforts to help reunite children taken by Russia after Moscow's invasion.

In the wake of the current unrest in the Middle East, Pope Leo XIV has reiterated his call for diplomatic means to bring lasting peace. “Stability and peace are not built with mutual threats nor with weapons that sow destruction, pain and death, but only through a dialogue that is reasonable, authentic and responsible.”  

The interaction between spiritual and temporal leadership has always been imperative for combating the recurring tension between violence and peace. For the reader's information, Vatican diplomacy is a unique system of international relations focused on moral authority, peace-building, and humanitarian issues. As a non-aligned, sovereign entity with over 180 diplomatic partners, the Pope uses nuncios (ambassadors) to advocate for human rights, religious freedom, and conflict mediation, often acting as a neutral mediator.

Psychologists have observed that humans have always been associated with the vice of violence, often in such a calculative manner, to the extent of manufacturing firearms of mass destruction! The whole of human history is marred with wars, massacres, and every kind of torture and cruelty. 

It is significant how often violence is referenced in the Bible. The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel both tell us of an angelic being who became corrupt before the arrival of humans on the earth. “Lucifer” or “Light Bearer” had become an agent of darkness. Ezekiel shows that violence became one of the tools of his trade. As a result of his corruption, he became dominated by aggression. Adam and Eve did violence against their Creator and suffered the penalty of banishment from Eden, the garden of God. Adam’s son, Cain, killed his brother, Abel. Violence escalated so much that God was grieved in His heart and “regretted” having created humans.

On the other hand, the Bible shows that there is a spirit in men and women that makes us unique and different from animals. The human brain is qualitatively different from the animal brain. There are two other spiritual minds with which the human mind can interface, causing us to think in varied ways—for good or evil, for right or wrong (1 Corinthians 2:12). One spirit, the apostle Paul said, is of this world; the other is of God. One of the depravities of the human mind when it combines with the spirit of the world, the spirit of disobedience, is violence. For some reason, the glorification of cruelty and violence preoccupies this present world. No wonder so many people enjoy watching horror/violence/action movies.

Psychologists have also observed that emotionally inadequate people assert themselves by dominance and cruelty. Sometimes, therefore, we commit an act of violence simply by what we say to others, or do to them, short of the act of murder. Paradoxically, even the most outwardly religious people can have a violent heart. Many of those who persecuted and plotted the unspeakably cruel death of Jesus Christ were devoutly committed to their religion. They had not known God (John 16:2–3). Despite his religious zeal for God, Paul described himself as having been “a man of violence” before his conversion (1 Timothy 1:13).

Peacemaking is an active process. It requires action based on the right principles. We must know what is right and exercise the will to do it. Living the right way and keeping God’s law in respect of human relationships leads to peace and reconciliation. We must treat people as people, not as commodities to be used up or coerced. We must give them mental and spiritual space, just as we want it for ourselves.

During His ministry, Jesus had to explain to His own disciples that their attitude was very far from His own. (Luke 9:52–55). In Matthew 24:21–22, Jesus warns of a time of ultimate violence by Satan and his followers. We must not do violence to each other by allowing Satan’s adversarial state of mind to become our own. Thankfully, God will save humanity from annihilation, and the world’s new condition will be peace.