Pope Urges Ceasefire in Iran War

Pope Leo XIV called for an immediate ceasefire in the war involving Iran during his Sunday noon blessing at the Vatican, delivering his strongest remarks yet on the conflict. The pope urged leaders responsible for the fighting to halt violence after deadly strikes that hit schools and civilian areas.

The Associated Press reported that Pope Leo made the remarks at the end of his Sunday noon blessing, where he appealed to leaders involved in the conflict to halt the fighting and pursue dialogue instead of continued military escalation. "On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict," Leo said. "Cease fire so that avenues for dialogue may be reopened. Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that the people are waiting for."

Leo did not cite the U.S. or Israel by name but appeared to reference an attack in the opening days of the war that struck a school in Iran and killed more than 165 people, many of them children. According to Fox News, U.S. officials said the strike may have been based on outdated intelligence, and an investigation into the incident is underway.

The pope expressed particular concern about the impact of fighting in Lebanon, where aid groups have warned that escalating conflict could trigger a humanitarian crisis. The Vatican has highlighted the carnage of the Minab strike, running an aerial photo of the mass grave being dug for the young victims on its official newspaper's front page under the headline "The Face of War."

For much of the two weeks since the conflict began, Leo had limited his public comments to broader appeals for peace and dialogue while avoiding direct references to the U.S. or Israel—a stance consistent with the Vatican’s longstanding tradition of diplomatic neutrality.

The Vatican has highlighted the plight of Christian communities in southern Lebanon, which have long represented a bulwark for Christians throughout the majority Muslim region. Some U.S. cardinals and the Vatican secretary of state have also expressed their views on the conflict. Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, said the war was morally unjustifiable. Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich described it as "sickening" how the White House was splicing video game imagery into its social media messaging about the war.

The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, rejected Washington’s claim of a “preventive war,” but stated that the Holy See was keeping dialogue open. "The Holy See speaks with everyone, and when necessary we speak also with the Americans, with the Israelis and show them what to us are the solutions," he said.