VOICE OF WISDOM FROM POPE LEO XIV REFLECTS WORLD CONSCIENCE-by N.S.Venkataraman
When Israel and USA unilaterally attacked Iran , under the pretext of destroying uranium enriching facility in Iran and to prevent Iran from making nuclear bomb ( which was denied by Iran ) , most people around the world including in USA are of the view that this war is unnecessary and should have been avoided. Further, when US President said that he would wipe out a civilisation in Iran, it sent shock waves around the world. Large number of people around the world wondered who would stop this madness.
With UNO , which is supposedly a peace keeping body, largely remaining like a toothless institution and mere spectator and which now gives an impression of being a debating club, the voice of wisdom expressed by the Pope Leo XIV has been welcomed as refreshing and timely call for peace and providing the much needed protest against those who initiated the war.
The Pope is not merely a head of a state but he is respected as the Vicar of Christ. Millions of Christians around the world look forward to his guidance, particularly in times of stress. The Pope has now met the expectation of not only the Christians but also the people around the world owing allegiance to other religions, by insisting that this war should be stopped forthwith.
While conflicts and wars have been taking place in various regions in the world from time immemorial due to the actions of some leaders with greed and with lack of commitment to the cause of peace and harmony , the historical events have proved that such wars have not solved any problem or settled any issue but only aggravated the problems and resulted in creating several other issues such as bitterness amongst the people. While several deep thinkers and religious leaders around the world have always stressed the need for peace and harmony, in reality this does not often happen. But, such situation does not mean that voice of wisdom have no significance .
Even after the view expressed by the Pope , the war has not been finally stopped by those who initiated the war, which obviously implies that they do not have the respect for such views of the Pope . This is very unfortunate. Nevertheless , the voice of wisdom from the Pope is very necessary at the present juncture, to ensure that violence and wars should not become the order of the day and people should not lose confidence in the strength of movement for peace. Such voice of wisdom is necessary to ensure that the force of peace should not become inconsequential . The existence of such force of peace would ensure that warlords would not remain unchallenged , even if not stopped immediately.
It should be realised that the force behind the voice of wisdom expressed by the Pope and applauded and gratefully welcomed by millions of people around the world , is much stronger than those who think that they can take the world order for granted , wilfully attack the other countries with the force of weapons and bombs , that kill innocent people, destroy infrastructure and disrupt energy installations.
In the ongoing war , the NATO countries have refused to join the war , which is a welcome move and represent the symbolic trend towards strengthening the force of peace. At the same time, the views of the several countries who disapprove the ongoing war have not been expressed in strongly enough. The discerning people around the world who are highly concerned have also failed to organise themselves and launch peaceful protest movement that would strengthen the force of peace.
In such circumstances, the Pope has given a lead and must further move forward to organise an effective peace movement and climate of long standing peace around the world. The Pope has the stature and moral strength and perhaps, is the only person in the world today in a position to launch and strengthen the force of peace .
Certainly, the peace lovers around the world look forward to the Pope to give a lead and create a situation , where the force of peace become stronger than the force of war .
