Media Release
ACDN, 21 April 2025

The death of Pope Francis is a loss not only for the Catholics but also for all humankind. Setting aside some regrets one could have on certain points, we can call him a fundamentally good man, full of humour, of a great simplicity - a man close to the poor, to the oppressed, to the many victims of social injustice, international violence, and war - a man distant from the powerful and their obsessions, concerned for peace and fraternity, preoccupied by the fate of this planet that we will leave to our children. There will be no end of enumerating his words, gestures and actions that prove this. He was in the lineage of John XXIII.

His encyclicals « Laudato si’ » and « Fratelli tutti » deserve to be read or reread by Catholics - particularly the French bishops - and also by the followers of other religions, and by non-believers.

The leaders that preside over the world’s destinies are polishing their weapons, leading us into war, and threatening to massacre each other’s populations. If they had been inspired by the messages of Pope Francis calling for a world without nuclear weapons, we would not be in a position to fear general annihilation, and we would be building a better world.

Let us hope that his successor will take up the torch and champion the voice of good sense and humanity in a world of brutes and crazies, a world where atom bombs (say it and say it again!) represent the quintessence and the last word. How can the Catholics of France, notably the military leaders, be still supporting this aberration?

Cardinal Lustiger, the Church in France, and the Atom Bomb (21 August 2007)

World Council of Churches: Seeking a nuclear weapon free world
(4 September 2009)

The Church of France, Nuclear Disarmament and the Vienna Conference
(20 November 2014)

Pope Francis to Vienna’s Conference: "a world without nuclear weapons is truly possible"
(8 December 2014)

Letter addressed to the Conference of Bishops of France (25 December 2014)

Pope Francis calls for a world without nuclear weapons and supports their abolition
(15 April 2017)

Appeal from Pope Francis, visiting Nagasaki and Hiroshima: "Rid us of these criminal weapons!"
(27 November 2019)

Pope Francis: Not Using Or Possessing Nuclear Weapons Will Be Added To Catechism
(2 December 2019)