Pope Francis is standing in a strong philosophical tradition -- nonviolence. It was probably best expressed by the Mahatma Gandhi, whose basic term was "ahimsa".  Ahimsa means "nonviolence":  no physical violence, and no passive violence. Gandhi translated ahimsa as "love". "If you have love towards somebody, and you respect that person, then you are not going to do any harm to that person." (Gandhi, Autobiography, p 217). Another essential term is " satyagraha" -- "clinging to truth". As Gandhi put it, "Clinging to the truth that we are all one under the skin, that there is no such thing as a 'win/lose' onfrontation because all our important interests are really the same, that consciously or not every single person wants unity and peace with every other" (idem 219)

In the end, Gandhi won independence for India through ahimsa. Martin Luther King was another prophet of nonviolence, and the US is a better country for him. Violent men killed both of them, because they were threatening.