This World Peace Day Message is a great step forward. However  it is a pity that such is the state of the Church that Pope Francis is not able to take what he says to its obvious and logical conclusion: Catholics (and anybody else who is serious about peace) must not enlist in armed forces, and all Catholic chaplains must be withdrawn from all armed forces. I guess he cannot move too fast. He has to take the faithful with him. But this has long been the Church’s great blind spot: it's inability to see that the military is simply legalised, institutionalised violence, and inability to see through the smokescreen of smart uniforms, marching bands, parades and medals that disguise the violence. Hopefully those days of glorifying violence are over, and we might even see Francis backing up his words by disbanding the Swiss Guard and putting an end to guards of honour and 21-gun salutes on his international trips. We live in hope! May Francis continue to listen to the Spirit.