While nations have a right to defend themselves and a responsibility to protect their citizens, “no war is worth the loss of the life of even one human person, a sacred being created in the image and likeness of the Creator,” said a papal message to the Paris Peace Forum.
“No war is worth the tears of a mother who has seen her child mutilated or killed,” the message said. “No war is worth the poisoning of our common home.”
Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the apostolic nuncio to France, read the message on Nov 10, the first day of the two-day forum of government, business and civic leaders discussing the theme, “Seeking Common Ground in a World of Rivalry.”