By The pontiff invoked Bob Dylan and others in the book “Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift,” which was published in Italian on July 21.
Pope Leo XIV has written a foreword to a new book, calling for peace and the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Originally published by Vatican News, the pontiff’s text is part of the new book “Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift,” published by the Vatican Publishing House (Libreria Editrice Vaticana) in Italian on July 21. Edited by Alessandro Banfi, the book is a collection of Leo XIV’s addresses and reflections on peace since his election to the papacy in 2025.
The pope also invoked in his foreword American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan as well as Servants of God Dorothy Day, Floribert Bwana Chui, and Giorgio La Pira.
War is an adventure with no return
Leo began the foreword with what had been his first words as pontiff, proclaimed from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica: “Peace be with you.” He explained the theological significance of those words, spoken by Christ after his resurrection, and decried the modern tendency for war.
“This was also the first gift the risen Christ offered to his friends and to the whole world: peace,” Leo wrote. “That gift, however, did not come ‘cheap.’”
“Today, a good 103 states are involved in some way in a war on Earth. Weapons boom and kill in Ukraine, in the Middle East, in Sudan, in Myanmar, in Yemen, in Congo, and in many other situations.”
He also referred to his predecessors Pope Francis and Sts. Paul VI and John Paul II, who also called for peace and nuclear disarmament:
“Especially after the terrible consequences of the events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the recourse to war is ever more an ‘adventure with no return,’ as St. John Paul II stressed.”
Invoking Bob Dylan: ‘Man-owned an’ man-handled’
In his foreword, the pope referenced American singer Bob Dylan, who criticized the manufacture of nuclear bombs during the Cold War in his 1963 song “Go Away You Bomb.”
“As singer-songwriter and poet Bob Dylan wrote, figuratively addressing the atomic bomb, in one of his poetic compositions: ‘I hate you cause yer man-made and man-owned an’ man-handled,‘” Leo said.
The pope also explained that the threat of nuclear catastrophe looms large unless action is taken.
“History has already seen us come close to nuclear catastrophe.”
“A world in which machines, albeit sophisticated and faster than us, are the ones to decide to bomb defenseless people would be truly frightening,” Leo wrote.
Criticism of the U.S.-Iran war
Leo’s new foreword is emblematic of his stance on peace and nuclear disarmament, including with regard to the U.S.-Iran war.
Pope Leo and other Church officials have criticized the U.S. government under President Donald Trump for attacking Iran. In response, Trump claimed on May 4 that the pope “would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Leo denied Trump’s accusation that he supported nuclear weapons, stating to journalists at Castel Gandolfo on May 6 that “the Church has spoken for years against all nuclear weapons.”
An English edition of the book “Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift” will be published in the coming months.
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“pontiff invoked Bob Dylan”
Of course. Dylan is a saint to Hippies.
Sure. But Dylan has fans across a wide spectrum. I have several friends who are robustly Catholic and politically conservative who think Dylan is the one of the greatest ever.
Personally, he and his music have rarely interested me; I find many of his famous albums nearly unlistenable. Which is interesting as I listen to very wide range of music, ranging from free jazz to hard prog to folk/country to (a lot) of classical and jazz. But I can rarely get past his voice and the fact that most of his music, to me, is quite boring.
Van Morrison, on the other hand, I can listen to for days on end.
I liked Bob Dylan’s album with Johnny Cash.
It’s not whether not Dylan’s gravelly voice and smug moralizing lyrics are appealing; but I didn’t grow up then, so maybe I don’t get it, I wasn’t subject to conscription to die in a rice paddy because a true moral imbecile-Robert McNamara-believed “limited engagement” and condemned many thousands more to death because he was as confident as he was wrong.
Nonetheless, no pop singer belongs in any formal pronouncement. It’s just another indication that this Pope is a true Boomer. Like McNamara they are as confident as they are wrong. They think the world will be improved by jingles and slogans and that poets and musicians are prophets.
Would the Cold War have escalated into a half-century nuclear arms race, also, in the absence of photographs of what (theoretical) atomic bombs could actually do on the ground at Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
A LETTER:
Consider this letter from scientist Arthur H. Compton to Col. K.D. Nichols—and intended for President Truman—foreseeing that while possibly ending the war in the Pacific, use of the atomic bombs would also initiate the nuclear arms race of the next half-century and beyond. (Compton played a pivotal role in the Manhattan Project, overseeing the Metallurgical Laboratory and contributing to the development of nuclear reactors and plutonium production for atomic bombs.)
The evidence is that the letter never reached Truman…
From the letter:
“[….] The development of atomic power will provide the nations with new means of destruction. The atomic bombs at our disposal represent only the first step [!] in this direction, and there is almost no limit to the destructive power which will become available in the course of their future development. Thus a nation which sets the precedent of using these newly liberated forces of nature for purposes of destruction may have to bear the responsibility of opening the door to an era of devastation on an unimaginable scale [….]” (Arthur H. Compton, “Transmittal: A Petition to the President of the United States”, July 17/24, 1945, in Stoff, Fanton, Williams, “The Manhattan Project: A Documentary Introduction to the Atomic Ages,” McGraw Hill, 1991; Document #62, four single-space pages).
QUESTION: At this late date in history, how, exactly, to achieve a nuclear-free world while at the same time now preventing jihadist/Islamic Iran from becoming the tenth member of the modern nuclear club? (The club: United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, Isreal, North Korea.)
Better Dylan than John Lennon.
I’m not sure if you are referencing Bishop Antonio Staglianò, president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology’s ode to “Imagine” or not.
But two peas in a pod.
As an opinion, we may have been able to contain Iran’s nuclear missile capability with further stealth bomber attacks and kept the Strait of Hormuz open, as it was after the first strike on Fordow. But then I don’t have knowledge of the intelligence that the Administration has.
As such it’s becoming evident Leo XIV assumes the moral justification to condemn a putative just war policy – specifically at a time in history when devastation can be delivered to a nation in an extremely short time frame with hypersonic missiles. Because of this the rules for just defense and preemptive strike have greater moral viability than previous.
The great irony of this war is that it may in fact make the intercontinental ballistic missile, the fighter jet and the aircraft carrier irrelevant. Iran is certainly being used a client proxy adversary by the Chinese and
There are ways to weaponize radionuclides outside of making them explode. If I were looking to attack or respond to an attack by a superior or peer adversary, I would find a way to have a distributed pollutive response using something like Cobalt 60, a nasty gamma emitter. Even if you can detect these things, only a few need to successfully ingress.
Yes. The scientific options for war are becoming increasingly hideous and immoral.
With nonviolence as their major and only weapon, pilgrims on journey love to spend their precious lives in peace and harmony, rendering praise and thanks to the Giver of life.