Pope Leo XIV Warns Europe the "crisis is the spread of relativism and the reduction of truth to opinion" which Threatens Peace

Vatican Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin sent a message on behalf of Pope Leo XIV to the high-level conference on peace in Europe, taking place in Luxembourg.   The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) invited stakeholders, institutions and the wider public to participate the high-level conference “Peacebuilding in Europe: what role  for catholic social thought and universal values?” t in Luxembourg on Friday, 23 January 2026, from 9h00 to 17h00.

FULL TEXT Message of Pope Leo XIV via Cardinal Pietro Parolin: His Holiness Pope Leo XIV sends greetings to the President, the members, and to all participating in the 2026 European Conference of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation. 

He was pleased to learn of your theme, "Peace Building in Europe: What Role for Catholic Social Thought and Universal Values?", which is particularly relevant given today's great resistance to discussing the universal values that religion or any belief system may contribute to the common good of society. 

While this resistance arises for various reasons, the underlying crisis is the spread of relativism and the reduction of truth to opinion. Yet no community, let alone a continent, can live in peace and thrive without commonly held truths that inform its norms and values. As a result, His Holiness has spoken of the urgent need to embrace once again the divinely revealed Judeo-Christian truths at the root of European society, especially the truth that the human person is created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Address to Members of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, 10 December 2025). Here we recall the words of Saint John Paul in his Encyclical Centesimus Annus that, "no authentic progress is possible without respect for the natural and fundamental right to know the truth and live according to that truth" (29). In this regard, the Church's Social Teaching, which is rooted in the words and actions of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who revealed himself to be the way, the truth, and the life (cf. Jn 14:6), has much to offer as it goes beyond borders and provides a platform for collective interests and way of living, thus making peaceful coexistence possible. 

It is the Holy Father's confident hope, therefore, that this Conference will make its own contribution to furthering the role of Catholic values in building a more peaceful and just European continent. With these sentiments, Pope Leo XIV entrusts all of you to the loving intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, and cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of joy and peace in Christ our Risen Savior.

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