The Fact of War and the Cry for Peace in the Way of Thinking of Andrea Riccardi

Abstract

Andrea Riccardi is an Italian Catholic historian, university professor, activist, and the founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio. His writings mainly deal with contemporary historical topics, with a particular focus on the history of the papacy today. However, his books do not neglect moral positions. He shapes his views in practice just as he does in his theoretical work. His community, the Community of Sant’Egidio carries out a significant peace mission, the moral foundations of which were laid by Riccardi. In this study, I wanted to collect primarily those moral principles and theoretical statements from Riccardi’s writings that came from his heart and define the Community’s peace mission. Pope Francis described this Catholic lay association as the community of the “three P’s’: preghiera (prayer), poveri (the poor), and pace (peace). The mission of peace and standing up for peace are therefore essential in the life of this Community. In Catholic social teaching, the importance of the message of peace has become increasingly valued in recent decades. Riccardi explains his own moral principles in this context.

1. Introduction

In this paper, I have attempted to summarize the theoretical and moral views on peace of Andrea Riccardi (1950–), a university professor with extensive experience in community life, political, and diplomatic circles. Riccardi’s views have been refined in theory and practice over the decades, while his community has become indispensable in Catholic thinking about peace. The Italian professor of history (Sapienza University, University of Bari), ex-minister and activist, founded the lay Christian association, Community of Sant’Egidio in Trastevere, Rome, in 1968 (cf. Puig i Tàrrech 2021). The Community was born in Rome, but over the past fifty-five years it has spread throughout the world. The first members were young people from the neighbourhood, but soon they were joined by people from all walks of life, including priests. Its founding generation was able to articulate the Gospel message in such a way that it captivated tens of thousands of people across borders. Since 1973, the meetings have been held in the ancient Convent of Discalced Carmelite Nuns in Trastevere, devoted to Sant’Egidio (St. Giles, in English)—hence the name of the community: this is the Community of Sant’Egidio, gathering to respond to the Second Vatican Council’s universal call to holiness (Riccardi 2009, p. 1). In terms of its origins and spirituality, the community is deeply Roman, both in the sense that Rome is the capital of Italy and in the sense that Rome is the centre of the Catholic Church. The Catholic-based community, present in seventy-three countries with more than fifty thousand activists, defines its mission, as Pope Francis aptly put it, by the so-called “three P’s”, the initials of the words pace/peace, preghiera/prayer and poveri/the poor (Pope Francis 2014). Standing up for the poor is therefore as important in the life of Sant’Egidio as the mission of peace (Gnavi 2015). In the way of thinking of the Community, these two goals would not be possible unless they came from prayer. Service and mission spring from communion with the Word of God (cf. Riccardi 2019, pp. 89–91).

Over the past five decades, Sant’Egidio has become known to the wider world not only for organizing major interfaith meetings or running AIDS programmes in Africa, but also because its international peace missions have become indispensable in several African countries. Meanwhile, the community founder published numerous books and articles about peace, listing historical and moral arguments in favour of establishing peace. The books on peace written by Riccardi—who was awarded the International Balzan Prize for Humanity, Peace and Brotherhood among Peoples (2004) and the Charlemagne Prize (2009)—were published in connection with certain significant historical events. For example, La pace preventiva (Preventive Peace 2004) was written after the Iraq War, while Il grido della pace (The Cry of Peace 2023) was published following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

In this paper, I will try to summarize, based on these books and Riccardi’s articles and lectures, the pro-peace message of the historian and community founder, which has had such an impact on the pontificate of Pope Francis, and which has also become the source of concrete peace missions in Africa or Ukraine for example. (Pope Francis’ special envoy for peace, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who visited Kiev in June 2023, followed by Moscow and Washington, to mediate peace between the warring parties on behalf of the Vatican, is also a member of Sant’Egidio.) It is undeniable that Professor Riccardi regularly met with Pope Francis, and the ideas of the Pontiff about the poor, periphery, the Word of God, interfaith dialogue, and peace were often inspired by the Community’s experience. The good relationship between the Pope and the professor is also demonstrated by the fact that Francis wrote the foreword to the professor’s anthology, published in 2024, which compiles his speeches on peace (Riccardi 2024, pp. 9–12). In his autobiography, Hope, published shortly before his death, Pope Francis writes on the war: “What else does a war leave? Injustice added to injustice… In the end, what does a war leave behind? Generally, the seeds for a new conflict, for other violence, for other mistakes and horrors... The intelligent war does not exist. War can bring nothing other than misery. Weapons can bring nothing other than death. War is stupid. People have almost always understood this—people aren’t stupid” (Pope Francis 2025, pp. 35–36). Pope Francis’ pro-peace stance is also evident in these few lines. However, the Pope’s book Against War: Building a Culture of Peace, published in 2022, offers an important summary (Pope Francis 2022a). He was firm and consistent on this issue, rejecting even the term “just war”, when he said in a speech at the Vatican Apostolic Palace on 18 March 2022 “There is no such thing as a just war: they do not exist!” (Pope Francis 2022b). I consider it important to present Riccardi’s views in this summary because they show a deep coincidence with Pope Francis’s ideas, and due to the similarity of their thinking, a personal dialogue has developed between them, the fruits of which we can see in the Church.

Andrea Riccardi writes and lectures mostly in Italian, and his ideas are therefore best known in that language. Their impact, both because of the attention of Pope Francis and because of the influence of the international Community founded by the professor, Sant’Egidio, is world-wide.

2. The Mission of Peace in the Community of Sant’Egidio

The Community of Sant’Egidio has been a mediator for peace in many countries, including Mozambique, and more recently in the crisis in Guatemala, Albania, Algeria, Burundi, Togo, Niger, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Uganda, Libya, Cameroon, North Korea, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Colombia, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Yemen (cf. Gianturco 2013, pp. 25–57). Commitment to peace is not merely a pacifist social demonstration with humanistic motivations, but rather a consequence of living according to the Gospel and evangelical hope. Therefore, the source of standing up for peace is supernatural. (cf. Riccardi 2022, pp. 6–17). As Riccardi writes: “The Word of God guides us through history, not because it suggests a formula for behaviour, but because it illuminates hope and, above all, reminds us that the Lord is not distant from the affairs of peoples and from conflicts themselves” (Riccardi 2022, p. 9). While the public activity of Christians throughout history brings the power of hope to life, prayers for peace are a cry to God to change that history. As Riccardi writes: “Praying in history also means praying for peace. And such prayer is a protest before God, because so many peoples have such a harsh destiny: a protest before the Lord of history for the actions of the warlords who dominate entire populations and condemn them to suffering” (Riccardi 2022, p. 12). The Community’s commitment to peace is therefore not only evident in the street demonstrations and flash mobs regularly organized in countless countries, nor in the peace meetings held annually in different major cities in “the spirit of Assisi”, in which the Pope frequently participates, but also in peace missions carried out in specific war zones (Impagliazzo 2021, pp. 45–68).

The spirit of Assisi. John Paul II used this expression. The source of this way of thinking was the Umbrian prayer for peace held on 27 October 1986. On that day, the Pope gathered religious leaders from around the world to pray together for peace, even during the Cold War. He welcomed representatives of different religions at the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. Instead of praying together in the strict sense of the word, the participants listened to each other in silence. John Paul II’s goal was simple and fundamental: He wanted to bring together followers of the world religions in Assisi to bear witness to the power of prayer for peace and to reject the horrors of war. One hundred and ten religious leaders participated in the joint prayer for peace, both Christians and non-Christians, representing twenty-nine countries and thirty-eight religious traditions. Over time, this prayer for peace and gathering became an annual event, and Sant’Egidio took over the organization of the meetings, holding them in a different city each year. (cf. Riccardi 2018, pp. 156–68). At these peace gatherings, the term “artisans of peace” (artigiani di pace) has become increasingly important. Its origin can be found in the Gospel (cf. Mt 5, 9), but in this form it comes from Pope John Paul II, and Pope Francis began to use it consistently, thus deepening the tradition of peace-making. Among other places, it appears in his 2016 speech in Assisi and in his message for the 2020 World Day of Peace, the last lines of which read: “Day by day, the Holy Spirit prompts in us ways of thinking and speaking that can make us artisans of justice and peace”. Those artisans of peace, as members of a movement, wish to transform history with conviction, establishing a culture of peace.

Meanwhile, as part of the DREAM programme, the community is pursuing a significant health diplomacy mission to combat AIDS in Africa (cf. Palombi 2013, pp. 297–325; Morozzo Della Rocca 2024) and is using its international influence to abolish the death penalty (cf. Marazziti 2013, pp. 341–75). The Community of Sant’Egidio started the Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue in October 2019 (based in New York). However, the establishment of institutional channels for these processes has created the possibility for the dream of peace to become a reality rather than a dream. The Community of Sant’Egidio is recognized by the Holy See as a lay public association. As a non-governmental organization, it has consultative status with the UN-Economic and Social Council. On 9 June 2017, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UN Department of Political Affairs. (cf. Riccardi 1996, p. 54). The Community aims to support the peace mission with appropriate scientific background work, which is why it regularly organizes conferences and workshops in Rome and develops online materials.

The outstanding achievement of the Community’s peace mission is the peace treaty signed in Rome on 4 October 1992 (the feast of St Francis of Assisi). The Community mediated between the parties. The treaty was signed by the President of Mozambique and opposition leaders who controlled the guerrilla groups. This General Peace Agreement brought an end to seventeen years of civil war in the country, which had killed hundreds of thousands of people and has made 3–4 million people refugees who have fled to neighbouring countries (cf. Riccardi 2015, p. 24; 2023, p. 148). The Community’s mission of peace in South Sudan, the youngest country in the world—created in 2011—will be remembered. It was a memorable moment when Pope Francis welcomed the country’s leaders to the Vatican in April 2019, bowing and kissing the feet of politicians. The Pope also mentioned this event in his autobiography, noting that “Peace is possible, I will never tire of repeating it. It is the fundamental condition for respecting the rights of every human and for the full development of every nation” (Pope Francis 2025, p. 293). The Pope did so while the political leaders were taking part in a silent retreat organized by Sant’Egidio and led by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, as a sign of the end of an armed conflict that has been going on since 2013. Regarding the community’s pursuit of peace, Riccardi notes that “Many years ago, Sant’Egidio discovered that a Christian community possesses its own power for peace. In reality, nothing pushed us towards a ‘diplomatic’ commitment. Nor can it be said that there was a tradition to revive or a path to follow: for us, the commitment to peace had a single model, or a single point of reference, that expressed in the Gospel the beatitude with which Jesus praises the peacemakers” (Riccardi 2018, p. 107). To further support the peace process, to involve all political actors as widely as possible, and to deepen dialogue with a view to establishing a comprehensive and lasting peace, the community has established a background institution called the Rome Initiative.

3. The Preventive Peace

In the following, I would like to recall a few basic principles in connection with one of Riccardi’s books. The book, published in 2004, conveys a powerful message with its clever title, The Preventive Peace. The subtitle of the book was Speranze e ragioni in un mondo di conflitti (Hopes and reasons in a world of conflicts). We have become accustomed to the idea that war can be preventive, but we have long forgotten the preventive nature of peace. The book was partly written in response to the Iraq War. The US attack on Iraq is often cited as an example of traditional just war theories. America’s argument was based on the pre-emptive attack to prevent the use of nuclear weapons. This argument was largely accepted by world public opinion at the time. However, it should also be remembered that John Paul II consistently condemned the intervention in Iraq, sending Cardinal Pio Laghi to the US President on the eve of the outbreak of war (cf. Moses 2020). Laghi, who warned President Bush that a war is easy to start but extremely difficult to end, made the following statement after the visit: “The Holy See maintains that there are still peaceful avenues within the context of the vast patrimony of international law and institutions which exist for that purpose. A decision regarding the use of military force can only be taken within the framework of the United Nations but always taking into account the grave consequences of such an armed conflict: the suffering of the people of Iraq and those involved in the military operation, a further instability in the region and a new gulf between Islam and Christianity. I want to emphasize that there is great unity on this grave matter on the part of the Holy See, the Bishops in the United States, and the Church throughout the world” (Laghi 2003). The United States finally attacked Iraq on 20 March 2003. And while the US bishops sent letters condemning the plan to intervene, the American Christian public opinion—including the highly respected Richard Neuhaus (cf. Neuhaus 2005)—was not united in its support for the Pope, with many suggesting that he might not be well versed in the traditional moral teaching on just war. In the same weeks, Andrea Riccardi published an article on the ethics of war in which he spoke of two Christianity’s, stressing that the Catholic position condemned the US invasion of Iraq, while President Bush was encouraged and supported by neo-Protestant tendencies to launch the intervention (cf. Riccardi 2003, pp. 38–45). John Paul II’s position on the war in Iraq was well-founded but personal. His stance had a strong and direct impact on public opinion and was shared by the historical Churches, including the Orthodox, Protestant and Anglican communities. Shortly afterwards, similar statements were made by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Anglican Primate and the Patriarch of Moscow. Only the British and American administrations, surrounded by mainly evangelical Christians and neo-conservative thinkers, differed. Unfortunately, evangelical communities, looking at America as a paraphrase of biblical narratives, have argued that the war in Iraq is a holy war (cf. Buc 2015, pp. 54–75).

In his book, Riccardi quotes the 19th century Whig historian Henry Maine, “War is old, ancient as mankind, but peace is a modern discovery”, and Michael Howard then, the opposition Conservative leader in the UK, “The culture of peace is a recent phenomenon” (Riccardi 2004, p. 13). It is true that the Pope’s efforts to promote peace and their strong messages in favour of peace became more prominent in the 20th century, while humanity’s universal desire for peace grew stronger after World War II. The Community of Sant’Egidio has also been promoting these efforts since its establishment in 1968. Riccardi’s position is not simply pacifist. His conviction and commitment to peace are both deeply human and deeply evangelical. Is it necessary for war to always be a faithful companion of human history? Yes, we know that many States were born out of war or defended their freedom through war. But is war an inevitable part of human history? Today, we often resign ourselves to the idea that war is ultimately inevitable. It seems, Riccardi argues, that we have given up on the dream of abolishing war as a means of human interaction. Because we must bitterly realize again and again that our desire for peace carries very little weight. The decision is in the hands of a few people, a few leading politicians. And this realization is the root of the frustration of many people who demonstrate and protest for peace. But, for us Christians—Riccardi argues—peace is not a contingent political choice. It is something rooted in the meaning of life and in faith itself. Peace is at the heart of being Christian and of being men and women (cf. Riccardi 2004, pp. 209–10). The moral message of the book is ultimately that peace is not only possible, but necessary. This is due to its anthropological and evangelical significance.

4. Living Together

Among the books that have had a decisive influence on me, I would like to mention Andrea Riccardi’s Convivere (English title: Living Together) which was published in Italian in 2006, so in the period under discussion now, and which could be considered the anti-Huntington, or rather a counterpart and rival interpretation to the paradigm outlined in Samuel Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations. Riccardi’s book can also be read—although this was not the author’s explicit intention—as a possible Christian response to the Huntington paradigm. Before turning to Riccardi’s proposal, let me mention an interesting experiment, which is a challenger to The Clash of Civilizations at least in its title. I am referring to Robert P. George’s book The Clash of Orthodoxies. George, an American Catholic moral philosopher, challenges American society and the intellectual public—primarily representatives of the secular liberal position—to a debate on traditional moral issues such as abortion, medically assisted suicide, euthanasia, and certain issues of marriage and family ethics. All this becomes exciting for George when Jews and Christians, who basically follow conservative values on the issues mentioned, embrace liberal ideas about human beings and social morality. At this point, Orthodox Jews, conservative and evangelical Protestants, Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox Christians find themselves in alliance with each other when it comes, for example, to the sanctity of human life or the traditional moral approach to marriage and family, and they come into conflict with the liberal-minded members of their own denominations, or at least those who are considered to be so (cf. George 2001). We can see that despite their rather different basic positions, Huntington and George have something in common in their books. Both start from the reality of conflict. Indeed, conflict and confrontation are an integral part of their theories and a necessary corollary. Their approach is divisive, thinking in terms of camps, and does not promote reconciliation or interoperability. Riccardi’s book—at least from this point of view, since the three books differ in terms of subject matter and methodology—could be considered a credible alternative to the two volumes mentioned above. It provides a thorough and lengthy analysis of specific locations of coexistence: the Balkan conflicts, the situation of Islam in the Middle East and Europe, the situation in the suburbs of Paris, the specific African conflicts, such as the situation of the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, the end of European-initiated missions, the effects of colonization, the growing importance of migration, and the turbulent consequences of globalization. He also evaluates Huntington’s theory, wisely noting that while it contains useful schemata, it is based entirely on Western perspectives. Elsewhere, he writes that Huntington’s analysis is correct in many respects: “Globalization has not created a cosmopolitan world but has presided over the rebirth of particularism. It has created anxiety about defining one’s own characteristics in those who were in gray situations” (Riccardi 2017, p. 22). However, Huntington’s conclusions lead us astray, discouraging us from engaging in open dialogue. In his book, Living Together, Riccardi thus sought to paint a nuanced picture of his subject, while also choosing a moral guiding principle for his analysis. The key idea in the book is to offer the possibility of coexistence instead of conflict and to emphasize the role of Christianity in promoting reconciliation. Conflict is not inevitable, and coexistence is possible: this is the core of his proposal. Perhaps the most powerful sentences in the book are the following: “The ’dialogue’ is not an expression of goodwill, something inherited from post-conciliar Catholicism (which hopefully has a sense of sin about the Crusades). It is not an unprejudiced negotiation with all people, asking just to be left in peace in order to increase our own quality of life. Dialogue is the ability to look the other person’s differences in the face, to try and develop more ways of relating to them, to weave a pattern of relationships, and to gain a grasp of the interests and attitudes of the other person. The remainder—by which I mean the future—means taking the historic risk and knowing at the same time that nothing is certain” (Riccardi 2006, p. 126). Living together, a shared history is possible. Coexistence means accepting a pact with history as something dynamic. Coexistence means respecting others, but also placing oneself within a given historical, political, cultural, and even religious framework. Coexistence requires one or more conscious pacts (cf. Riccardi 2017, p. 33).

5. The Disarmed Force of Peace

As I mentioned, the Pope’s message of peace became more prominent in the 20th century. In this respect, the figure of Benedict XV, the pope of World War I, is also outstanding. In 1917, French theologian and spiritual writer Antonin Sertillanges, a Dominican friar who was also seriously involved in political theory and French identity, argued with Pope Benedict XV in Notre Dame Cathedral in the presence of politicians and religious leaders, stating that he could not accept the Holy Father’s words on peace at that moment (cf. Riccardi 2023, p. 63). Benedict XV worked tirelessly to end the war, and in his first encyclical (Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum), he spoke painfully about the fighting between nations in Europe and called for the recognition of brotherhood among peoples. On 1 August 1917, the pope issued his apostolic exhortation Dès le début, addressed to the warring parties, in which he wrote about the foundations of the future peace. He mentioned the enormous benefits of peace and the importance of complete disarmament. In his short circular letter Quod iam diu, he emphasized that true peace is based on the principles of Christian justice. The Pope’s pro-peace stance often made him unpopular. Yet he was one of the founders of the Popes’ message of peace in the 20th century. One of the latest summaries of this message was Pope Francis’ book Against war. Courage to build peace, published in 2022. In this non-doctrinal statement, the Pope summarizes the experiences, inspirations and principles that have led him to a total commitment to peace. He mentions his trip to Iraq in March 2021, where he experienced first-hand the consequences of war. He uses the image of a “third world war in pieces”, which he often refers to, and touches about the war in Ukraine. He refers to Pope John XXIII’s 1962 appeal to world leaders to curb the escalation of armed conflict and recalls Pope Paul VI’s 1965 speech at the UN, quoting the Pope’s famous words: “Never again war! Never again war!” Pope Francis’ words in this volume should strengthen us: “Peace happens every day! Peace is a handicraft, a work of man with his hands, with his life. If someone asks me, tell me how I can do this and be a craftsman of peace, the first thing I answer is: never hate. And if someone does wrong to you, try to forgive. No hatred! Only forgiveness! And if there is no hate in your heart, if you forgive, you will be a winner. Because you will be victorious in the most difficult battle of life, love. And through love comes peace” (Pope Francis 2022a, p. 17).

A hundred years after Sertillanges’ speech, Riccardi also states in his book La forza disarmata della pace. Movimento, pensiero, cultura (The disarmed force of peace. Movement, thought, culture)—which is dominated mainly by the theme of the Syrian war—that peace is the legacy of the great figures of the 20th century, such as Gandhi, Pope John Paul II, and Nelson Mandela. (Riccardi 2017, pp. 15–17). Peace is always possible. Because history is completely unpredictable and full of great, magnificent movements. God always surprises us. And, as Riccardi writes, the biggest surprise is peace itself (Riccardi 2023, p. 9). And if nothing in history is predictable, this is even more true in the space of grace. Christianity proclaims peace in history as a prophecy through the power of grace. “Today, Riccardi writes, we can see how deeply rooted the prophecy of peace is in Christianity” (Riccardi 2017, p. 17).

Una pace disarmata e disarmante—unarmed and disarming peace. The expression comes from Pope Leo’s speech, delivered immediately after his election on 8 May 2025, from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica (Pope Leo XIV 2025, pp. 7–9), and is also the central theme of the Holy Father’s message for World Day of Peace on 1 January 2026 (cf. Cucci and Portoso 2025, pp. 403–11). Perhaps it is no coincidence that he also used this expression—binomial word—when he beatified Floribelt Bwana Chui, a martyr murdered in the Democratic Republic of Congo, who had to die because he resisted bribery and, as a customs officer, refused to allow rotten goods to cross the border. Floribelt is a martyr in the fight against corruption who was a member of the Sant’Egidio and worked with young people as a volunteer at the Schools of Peace of the Community (cf. De Palma 2025; Riccardi 2018, p. 123). However, in an embryotic form, this had already appeared in Riccardi’s use of language earlier as well (cf. Riccardi 2017, pp. 63–65; 2024).

6. Prayer

In his book, La forza disarmata della pace, Riccardi calls for the creation of a movement to promote the culture of peace. “We need to grow spaces for peace in society, to connect—indeed ally—the circles and groups that are sensitive. First, each civil subject, such as local institutions or cities, must multiply its relations: today, not only nations, but cities and many other communities can be a subject in the global world. Institutional actors and communities can create a network to build relationships for peace in the world” (Riccardi 2017, p. 71). Movement, commitment, revolutionary tension, utopia—these are necessary to deepen the spirit of dialogue. And dialogue is the path to peace. In presenting this vision, we are aided by the book La preghiera, la parola, il volto (Prayer, the Word, the Face), in which Riccardi offers spiritual teachings on prayer. Quoting Giorgio La Pira, Florence’s deeply religious Catholic mayor, he writes that “I believe in the historical power of prayer. Prayer for others also helps those who pray. Thus that group of brothers from Jerusalem who prayed with the newly freed apostles, while invoking the Lord for the community, had the experience of no longer being prey to the difficulties of life and the uncertainty of their own path… To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to discover that the Spirit and the Word have grown within oneself. It is necessary to make room for the Word of the Lord in one’s heart, not only for oneself, but for everyone” (Riccardi 2019, pp. 34–35). The historical power of prayer means that we believe that with hope in our hearts and Scripture in our hands, standing on the main street of history, amid events, prayer can change history. Through our prayer, something new and unexpected can happen. When Pope Francis proclaimed the feast of the Word of God—the feast day so dear to the Community of Sant’Egidio, whose creation was greatly influenced by the Pope’s strong impression of the Community’s practices—on Sunday in 2019 with his motu proprio Aperuit illis, he focused on this very content by dedicating a special feast to the Word. Riccardi writes about this: “Thus the silence of prayer appears, to those who enter it, as a world populated by words, signs, presence and faces, but above all inhabited by the Word of God. This—as the Fathers teach—grows with those who read it, listen to it and pray with it” (Riccardi 2019, p. 9). The Word is God is powerful response to us. It is no small thing. For if God’s response were to be revealed in its full power, it would crush man. It would be too much. God’s Word appears in Scripture as a powerful and shocking response. It is a response that I cannot force into my own banal communication (cf. Riccardi 2019, p. 56). This Word in the person who prays, and it grows in history. To read the Word, to read it every day, means to allow the Word to grow around us. Scripture-centred prayer has become very important in our day. Here, it is worth recalling what Riccardi wrote about prayer in connection with the crisis of the Church: “A people that returns to sing in the churches and that finds in the crisis the ability to rejoice and cry is no longer in the shadow cone of the sunset, but wakes up to the fragile light of the dawn of the future day. Those who believe know that the history of believers is not only their own but is animated by the Spirit. And then everything can change! History is full of surprises, which are gifts and, at the same time, human achievements, the fruit of the deep currents that inhabit the history of peoples and the world” (Riccardi 2021, p. 275). We pay attention to history and events. We are involved in them and take a stand, namely by performing acts of love. But all this only has power if we pray, if we pray for the space and time available to us. The Word of God is the sword for those on the front line, for the saints. The Word gives the community a face. The fact that the Word is rooted in concrete history and speaks to the community in new ways every day frees the community from ideology and ideological thinking and awakens in everyone the living awareness that the Lord has forgiven us and accepted us. This spirituality is based on the Word of God, who became incarnate in Jesus Christ, and therefore passion for the Word is expressed in prayer and in contemplation of His Holy Face (cf. Puig i Tàrrech 2021, pp. 88–89).

7. The Cry for Peace

Riccari is a historian, and he covers his subjects with the thoroughness of a historian. This thoroughness is also evident in Il grido della pace (The Cry of Peace), published in 2023, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. The analysis of the situation in Ukraine is key to the volume. The Italian foreign policy expert Mario Giro, who is a member of the Community, suggested that there is currently a trend contrary to globalization (the Italian word: deglobalizzazione), which has a regressive nature. The elevation of regional and national interests above global considerations is particularly noticeable in the context of the war in Ukraine (cf. Giro 2022, pp. 31–53). This kind of preference for national interests brings back the war between nations, and even between brother nations. Today’s wars cannot end, and often transform into endless, isolated, endemic conflicts (Riccardi 2023, p. 38). And since this has become the nature of wars, we are slowly getting used to them: in Syria, Ukraine, and elsewhere in the world. In this context, we can now speak of the perpetuation of war (l’eternizzazione della guerra) in many conflicts (cf. Riccardi 2023, p. 39; Bruck and Riccardi 2024, p. 22). The first signs of this may have appeared in the case of the 2003 Iraq conflict. Since then, it has become increasingly difficult to determine the chronological boundaries of individual conflicts, both in terms of their beginning and the date of their declared victory (cf. Quirico 2023). Our experience is that we no longer feel resistance or outrage when we hear about these conflicts, but rather, due to their protracted nature, they have become part of our everyday lives. Yet with our intellect we may still know, even if we are no longer able to identify with it in our will, that what the Hungarian writer András Visky puts it in his powerful novel Kitelepítés (Deportation), “in war, only war wins”, is true (Visky 2022, p. 112). Such protracted conflicts, Riccardi writes, often lead to shocking indifference, as the masses are unable to comprehend the flood of news reports and painful images. While the parties are consumed by hatred and rejection, and an unbridgeable distance develops between the participants in the conflict (for ex. in Ukraine, the West will not allow the Russians to win, while Ukraine, despite gaining such momentum, is unable to defeat Moscow), international public opinion appears increasingly enervated (cf. Sarcina 2023). For those who live elsewhere, in different circumstances, war is an almost incomprehensible reality, and so most remain insensitive to it. Public opinion becomes accustomed to news of war, while in the war-torn region a generation is being destroyed, not only physically, but also in its dreams and ideals (cf. Riccardi 2023, pp. 5–9). Riccardi’s book is a wake-up call. It is a warning about our responsibility in a war that no one knows when it will end and whose human losses are incalculable.

Riccardi recalls that in October 2022, at the annual peace meeting held in the spirit of Assisi, which was then organized in Rome under the title Il grido della pace, Emmanuel Macron spoke of how it was an unusual and strange moment to talk about peace. However, Riccardi reminds us that talking about peace is never inappropriate and never superfluous. Indeed, when else should we talk about it if not now? (cf. Riccardi 2023, p. 40). This book calls on us to hear the cry for peace. The appeal, which also explores the psychology of war, goes far beyond the events in Ukraine. To quote Riccardi: “Peace will be lasting if we do not lose the historical memory of wars, if the Church is a prophet of peace, if we are firmly integrated into Europe, if a fabric and culture of peace regenerate social life, if we are able to arm ourselves with the weapons of dialogue to include everyone in small and large ways” (Riccardi 2023, p. 68). Weapons of dialogue—what a contradictory expression, and yet how true. Our weapons are dialogue and memory, as these few lines show. One way to avoid becoming resigned and indifferent to war is to keep the memory alive. That is why it is important that the testimonies of survivors of the Shoah or Hiroshima are heard again and again at the peace meeting. (Among the latter, the story of Koko Kondo, a hibakusha, which I heard from her in Rome in 2025, stood out for me.) A small testament to this endeavour is Riccardi’s book of conversations with Edith Bruck, a Holocaust survivor and writer of Hungarian descent who writes in Italian—as she says, the language of freedom. Here, Edith Bruck notes that “remembering is a way to change others” (Bruck and Riccardi 2024, p. 39). This is the task of witnesses: to remind. Humanity finds it difficult to learn the value of peace, often losing the power of historical memory, forgetting, and allowing war to fade into the mists of the past. Europeans have an important responsibility to remember the wars they have experienced. Riccardi also notes that memory is closely linked to history and historical consciousness, which is why Churches with historical roots have a deeper understanding of the importance of memory than neo-Protestant and Pentecostal communities, where historical embeddedness has been replaced by emotions, and which are therefore more prone to using war rhetoric. From this point of view, Catholics with deep historical roots have a great responsibility in building a civilization of peace (Riccardi 2017, pp. 23, 52).

Riccardi’s frequently recurring key phrase, which also gives the title to the collection of interviews with him, is Tutto può cambiare (Everything can change). History is never predetermined; it is full of surprises, and as in Il grido della pace he writes in the introduction, perhaps the biggest surprise could be peace itself. Riccardi recalls Václav Havel’s observation on “the power of the powerless” (cf. Riccardi 2023, p. 99; Havel 1985). The power of the vulnerable is nothing more than conviction, nothing more than hope. Can Christians assert their convictions? Hardly with military and political force. On the other hand, conviction itself is sometimes much stronger than these powers. Riccardi calls on St. Francis of Assisi, who once said that we must return to the Gospel, sine glossa (cf. Riccardi 2023, p. 110; 1996, p. 11). Without excuses or explanations, we must commit ourselves to peace. Such explanations would be, for example, that preventive war is sometimes possible and necessary, that we need the instrument of just war, or that holy war exists. And I do not wish to interpret or reject these concepts. Together with Riccardi, I would simply state—sine glossa—that war is never holy; only peace is holy (cf. Riccardi 2023, p. 133). The emphasis must shift to our personal attitudes. The ideas expressed in these books, although supported by the author with scientific rigour and countless historical examples, are moral principles. They call for us to accept an integral anthropology and to convert to the Gospel. Ideas can be powerful, more powerful than political powers or weapons. The decision is ours. As John Lukacs, an American historian of Hungarian descent, often writes: We must be strong enough to conform reality to our ideas, and not just allow reality to shape our ideas. Considering this, what Anastasios, the Orthodox Archbishop of Albania, said is even more important: that the opposite of peace is not war, but egocentrism. Personal, ecclesiastical, ethnic, or national...—Riccardi adds (cf. Riccardi 2023, p. 148).

8. Conclusions

At the end of the book Il grido della pace, Riccardi quotes Voltaire’s thoughts on revolution with unusual courage. According to him, this is where the soul of Europe lies. The formation of political pacts is at the heart of the long-term process of European history, but the roots of this process lie in revolutionary tension. Revolutionary tension (which is not only the catalyst for political revolutions but also for change), prophecy, utopia, and vision are inextricably intertwined. Talking about this may seem nostalgic in today’s Europe, which is allergic to tension, anxious about the challenges of history unfolding around it, and often inclined to withdraw into itself. Today, we are faced with the exhaustion of this tension, which gives rise to visions of the future. But is the West possible without utopia?—he asks. Visions require hope, imagination, risk-taking, faith, trust, and investment in the future (cf. Riccardi 2023, pp. 233–34). Dialogue requires revolutionary courage. “Our peace is an opportunity, not a lifebelt to cling to. The war of «others» must mobilize our energies” (Riccardi 2017, p. 48). Peace is our vision; peace is our utopia.