Archbishop Gallagher: ‘Diplomacy of hope is an essential tool for peace’

By Isabella Piro

The Jubilee of 2025 and the diplomacy of the Holy See share a common factor called “hope” Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher stated on Monday.  The Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations was addressing priests, religious and pastoral leadersin the Principality of Monaco where he has been invited  by Prince Albert II on the occasion of the feast of the local patron saint, Devota.

The conflict in Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis in Africa

On Monday morning  Archbishop Gallagher presided over the Eucharistic celebration at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. In the afternoon, during his meeting with the clergy, he highlighted the Jubilee theme of hope. He noted that “in the face of ongoing wars and the increasingly concrete threat of a world war”—often referenced by Pope Francis—the current Holy Year “seeks to offer a spiritual response to the temporal evils afflicting many countries.”

In light of this the Holy See, through its diplomatic efforts, “looks with compassion at the suffering of the world, addresses it with empathy, listens to needs, and proposes innovative solutions to resolve conflicts, whether in Ukraine, the Middle East, the Caucasus, or Yemen.”

Archbishop Gallagher also referenced the tragedies unfolding in Africa, particularly in Sudan, the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, Mozambique, and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. These areas, he reiterated, are affected by severe humanitarian emergencies, climate crises, and, in some cases, the “scourge of terrorism.”

Without religious freedom, there is no true peace

Beyond “crisis management,” papal diplomacy focuses on fundamental principles such as peace, fraternity, multilateralism, environmental protection, migration regulation, fair economic policies, the fight against human trafficking, and the defense of human rights. Archbishop Gallagher also emphasized the importance of “guaranteeing religious freedom, one of the minimum conditions for a dignified life,” without which “true peace remains out of reach.”

War victims are not statistics but human lives and shattered destinies

The Archbishop recalled Pope Francis’ numerous appeals and initiatives to end global conflicts. “The essential thing is not the immediate effectiveness of these appeals,” he said, “but the act of mmentioning wars and conflicts so they do not sink into oblivion, ensuring that victims receive global attention and solidarity.” Behind the statistics, he emphasized, “there are human lives and destroyed lives. Wars will never completely cease, but the mere fact of naming them and drawing the world’s attention to them, even for a short time, helps give them a human dimension.”

The Mediterranean must not become a graveyard

The Secretary for Relations with States also addressed migration, reiterating Pope Francis’ appeal not to turn the Mediterranean, our sea—mare nostrum—into our graveyard. Archbishop Gallagher urged the welcoming of “our brothers and sisters in humanity who knock on our doors,” often bringing with them “talents and energy.” This hospitality, he added, “must be based on respect for laws and social and cultural balances,” while also fostering collaboration with migrants’ countries of origin to allow their citizens to “live with dignity in their own land as free and fulfilled individuals.”

The Holy See promotes the common good, not particular interests

Hence, the prelate’s call to protect the human dignity of each and every person, to pave the way for “a safer future”: “No human being should feel guilty for merely existing, and no elderly or sick person should be deprived of hope or rejected,” he emphasized. In this context, the Archbishop continued, the diplomacy of the Holy See, characterized by hope and mercy, becomes “a vehicle of solidarity,” “a force of moral action,” and “a compass guiding consciences.” Driven by the defense of the common good, it “seeks to promote values rather than protect particular interests.”

Cancelling foreign debt

Such objectives can be translated into concrete actions, such as “supporting the cancellation of foreign debt for the poorest countries, promoting a just ecological transition, ensuring integral development accessible to all, implementing an international policy of disarmament, and seeking lasting solutions to conflicts.”

Promoting a culture of encounter

The cornerstone of this approach, Archbishop Gallagher stated, is a “culture of encounter” that creates networks, encourages dialogue “even between belligerents, whoever they may be,” and works to resolve crises “without ever humiliating the defeated, in order to lay the foundations for a truly just and lasting peace.”

The Secretary for Relations with States thus expressed his hope that this “strategy, essential in an increasingly fractured world,” can “be adopted and strengthened on an even broader scale,” also in collaboration with the local Church and through a “diplomacy of hope” based on the four pillars of “truth, forgiveness, freedom, and justice.”