Ukraine and a Peace Worthy of the Name - First Things

Ukraine and a Peace Worthy of the Name

Simone Risoluti Leo XIV and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wave from the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo on July 9, 2025. COMMENTARY: What does an Augustinian approach to war and peace suggest about peace in Ukraine?

Ukraine and a Peace Worthy of the Name - First Things

Pope Leo XIV’s spiritual lodestar is St. Augustine. In his first months in office, the Holy Father summoned the Church to pray, fast, and work for an end to the twenty-first century’s wars. That spiritual orientation and that summons invite us to consider what “peace” is possible in this world.  In his masterpiece, The City of God, the great Augustine defined “peace” as tranquillitas ordinis, the “tranquility of order.” This is not the peace of …