Last Saturday, April 11, a large crowd awaited  Leo XIV  in St. Peter’s Square and the packed Basilica. Just days before, the Pope had called for a prayer vigil for peace. At a time when military might is asserting itself and the law of the strongest is crushing international law, inviting people to pray seems, at the very least, naive. Solutions based on force give the impression of greater realism and pragmatism. Both the right and the left have long embraced the identification of truth with action. Nothing could be stranger, then, than praying the rosary in the Vatican for peace.

However, it is worth noting that never before have the world’s great political powers possessed such tools to ensure strategic success. First, enormous economic and military potential. Second, technological instruments that allow for unimaginable efficiency in military efforts—satellite surveillance, artificial intelligence, weapons of mass destruction, and so on. Third, highly pervasive media outlets. And yet, the result of all this appears to be a  major failure.  Armed conflicts that were predicted to be brief seem to be dragging on. Governments that could easily be intimidated or dissolved are consolidating their power and demonstrating resilience.

It’s as if, suddenly, empirically and in front of everyone, it became clear once again that pragmatism is not synonymous with realism, but rather one of its most pernicious ideological abstractions. There are always non-instrumental aspects of reality that transcend the utilitarian perspective and that, ironically, are often the decisive factors in “making things happen.”

Legend has it that around 1943,  Winston Churchill  tried to remind  Joseph Stalin  that, beyond maps, armies, and money, there also existed a spiritual and moral reality that could not be ignored in times of war.  Stalin,  true to his understanding of power, replied: “How many divisions does  Pope Pius XII have ?” In those few words, an entire worldview was encapsulated. History would show how a poor, orphaned young man, born in a marginalized Polish village, by appealing to other forces and placing his trust in the dark face of an ancient Marian icon, would influence the course of history in a way Stalin could never have imagined.

Leo XIV,  knowing that the energies that truly transform the world are those capable of transforming hearts, said last Saturday: “The Church is a great people at the service of reconciliation and peace, advancing without hesitation, even when the rejection of the logic of war may cost her incomprehension and contempt. She proclaims the Gospel of peace and teaches obedience to God rather than to men, especially when it comes to the infinite dignity of other human beings, endangered by the continuous violations of international law. Throughout the world, it is desirable that every community become a ‘house of peace,’ where we learn to defuse hostility through dialogue, where justice is practiced and forgiveness is preserved. Today more than ever, in fact, it is necessary to show that peace is not a utopia.”