(OSV News) — The Vatican secretary of state has been honored for his efforts to forge peace through diplomacy, amid what he called a shared “sacred mission in a world crying out for healing and reconciliation.”
Cardinal Pietro Parolin received the Path to Peace Award at a May 19 gala dinner in New York, having addressed representatives at the United Nations headquarters to celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV earlier that day.
The annual award is conferred by the Path to Peace Foundation, established in 1991 by then-Archbishop (and later Cardinal) Renato R. Martino, who at the time was the apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the U.N. The foundation works to support the Holy See’s U.N. mission through additional diplomatic humanitarian and peace-building activities that complement its efforts at the U.N.
Relationship with U.N.
Noting he was “deeply honored” to receive the Path to Peace Award, Cardinal Parolin said he wanted “from the outset … to make clear that I accept it on behalf of the pope and, above all, on behalf of the (Vatican) Secretariat of State, which works tirelessly for and on behalf of the Roman Pontiff to advance the cause of peace and justice in our world.”
The cardinal, who arrived in New York on the heels of Pope Leo’s May 18 papal inauguration, said the award was “a recognition of the Holy See’s supportive — though sometimes critical — relationship with the United Nations, and also a tribute to all those dedicated individuals who assist the Pope in his mission.”
He pointed to “a number of milestones in the enduring relationship between the Holy See and the United Nations,” including the 60th anniversary of St. Paul VI’s visit to the U.N., the 30th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s second visit to the body, and the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ 2015 address to the U.N. General Assembly.
Past papal legacies
Each pope in his own time “shed a light on the path to a more just and peaceful world, offering wisdom that transcends the boundaries of time and speaks to the eternal aspirations of the human heart,” said Cardinal Parolin.
St. Paul VI had “proclaimed with prophetic clarity that the path to lasting peace must be rooted in spiritual and moral renewal,” he noted.
The holy pope’s “unforgettable” declaration, “Jamais plus la guerre!” (“Never again war!”), Cardinal Parolin explained, challenges the world to see peace not as a mere absence of conflict, but as the result of “mutual trust and humility, born of a genuine transformation of consciousness — what the Christian tradition calls ‘metanoia,’ a profound conversion of heart.”
St. John Paul II — reflecting on “his own experience of totalitarianism and war” — had urged humanity “to confront its capacity for both tremendous good and unspeakable cruelty,” and to center peace-building in the larger framework of the God-given, inviolable dignity of the human person, Cardinal Parolin said.
Pope Benedict XVI, who visited the U.N. in 2008, “focused on the challenges of an increasingly globalized world,” stressing that safeguarding human dignity in an “increasingly globalized world” is the task of not only individual nations, but “of the international community as a whole,” said the cardinal.
During his 2015 visit, Pope Francis had described the U.N. as necessary to addressing “the complex challenges of humanity,” while “with characteristic directness … boldly criticizing the prevailing ‘culture of waste’ that discards the poor and vulnerable,” Cardinal Parolin said.
“The tradition lives on, and today we are blessed to witness the beginning of a new pontificate that brings fresh hope and renewed vigor to the cause of peace,” he said, adding that “Pope Leo XIV’s very first words after his election were a blessing of peace,” one that “comes from God.”
Catholic social teaching
“His deeply comforting message echoed across a world torn by conflict and division; an invocation of peace that is not merely the absence of violence, but a positive force that transforms and uplifts human relationships,” said Cardinal Parolin, highlighting Pope Leo’s choice of papal name, which honors Pope Leo XIII and his legacy of Catholic social teaching.
“As we stand on the shoulders of those who have worked tirelessly for peace before us, let us remember that the United Nations, this noble ‘family of nations,’ must continually renew itself, not merely institutionally but morally and spiritually,” said Cardinal Parolin. “The true measure of our success will be found not only in treaties or resolutions, but in the genuine transformation of the human heart toward greater justice, compassion, and reverence for the dignity of every person.”
The Path to Peace Foundation is led by its president, Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, the Holy See’s permanent observer to the United Nations.
Among the independent nonprofit foundation’s efforts are spreading information on papal and other Catholic initiatives to cultivate peace; organizing conferences and programs on the church’s social teachings and cultural heritage; and promoting fundamental human rights by highlighting humanitarian crises in various parts of the world.
Other recipients of the annual Path to Peace Award include the former president of Poland Lech Walesa (1996); the late Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who received the honor while serving as Vatican secretary of state (2004); Mary Ann Glendon, former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See (2010); and current U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres (2020, 2021).
Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina.
