Meeting with Pope Leo XIV. and the new encyclical: The Vatican strongly rejects the hypocrisy of war and the double standard of the Union

I recently received an extraordinary honor: a general audience with Pope Leo XIV. Real left politics and the positions of the Vatican have a lot in common: An appeal for peace, for human dignity, for social rights. The latest encyclical "Magnifica Humanitas" is proof of this. Another is the courage of this and the previous pope to criticize the "lustful women" and their hypocrisy.

Pope Leo XIV has now commented on the doctrine of the so-called "just war", sometimes abused by the great powers, and clashed with the US vice president regarding US aggression against Iran. The Pope's words: "War is never worthy of humanity and never blessed by God, because even though we are equipped with modern weapons, the Creator has endowed us with intelligence and free will to resolve conflicts as human beings and not as animals." Can't help but agree.

As the Politico website reports today, the Vatican has accused the European Union of double standards in its approach to war and international law. It was quite rightly said: "If it is an enemy state, it is condemned as undemocratic and subjected to various sanctions; but if it is an ally, it is completely ignored that it lacks freedom of speech, human rights or democracy". And right on target: "The European Union imposes economic sanctions on one country, and sends financial aid and weapons to another; yet it does not do the same in the face of further, even more serious invasions with even more brutal consequences for the population," - with an obvious reference to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Some of us are religious, some not, some "somewhat" - I consider it a private matter for everyone, a little more than the vaccination against Covid, and therefore I will keep my personal status to myself:) But even for those of you who are non-believers: Christianity is part of our tradition, and also the faith of one and a half billion Catholics worldwide. Most of which are already from the countries of the "Global South". What we read in the papal encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, or what we hear from the Vatican about peace, is something that naturally resonates with most of us in the Czech Republic, in Europe, but also with a large part of the world's population, left and right without distinction. It would be foolish not to listen to it.

PS: Those who witnessed will surely recognize the gentleman in glasses standing to my right - he is Cristian Terhes, the Romanian MEP and my esteemed colleague who, as one of the few in the covid times, showed courage and went hard after the Pfizergate case. Good company :)