Pope Leo XIV demands ceasefire in Iran war, appeals to leaders

Body

Pope Leo XIV demanded a ceasefire in the Middle East on Sunday in what the Vatican described as his strongest appeal to date, addressing those “responsible for this conflict” at the end of his Sunday noon blessing. The pope urged leaders to “Cease fire so that avenues for dialogue may be reopened,” saying violence “can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that the people are waiting for.”

Leo issued the remarks without naming the United States or Israel by name. The Vatican’s approach has sought to avoid turning the pontiff into an American political counterweight to President Donald Trump, while also aligning with the Holy See’s diplomatic tradition of neutrality.

In his address, Leo pointed to the war’s impact on civilian targets, saying he was close to the families of those killed in attacks that “which have hit schools, hospitals and residential centers.” The comments included what the Vatican chose not to spell out directly: the remarks referenced attacks that targeted a school, an apparent reference to a missile strike on an elementary school in Iran in the opening days of the war that killed more than 165 people, many of them children.

The Vatican also highlighted the carnage of the Minab strike by running an aerial photo of what it described as a mass grave being dug for young victims on March 6 on the front page of its official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, under the headline “The Face of War.” The pope reiterated that focus by drawing attention to communities and places he said had been harmed across the conflict.

Leo expressed particular concern about how the war affects Lebanon, where aid groups have warned of a humanitarian crisis. The Vatican has focused on the plight of Christian communities in southern Lebanon, describing them as long representing a bulwark for Christians throughout much of the majority Muslim region.

In the preceding two weeks since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war, Leo had limited himself to muted appeals for diplomacy and dialogue, an approach described as an effort to keep his messaging indirect and avoid inflaming tensions. Even in those earlier comments, he did not publicly name the United States or Israel, consistent with the Vatican’s tradition of maintaining diplomatic distance.

On Friday, Leo made remarks to priests attending a Vatican class on the sacrament of confession, characterizing the sacrament as a workshop that restores unity and peace. He asked: “One might well ask: do those Christians who bear grave responsibility in armed conflicts have the humility and courage to make a serious examination of conscience and to go to confession?”

While Leo himself appeared to keep his messaging framed in diplomatic terms, some U.S. cardinals and Vatican officials have spoken more directly about the war. Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, said the war was morally unjustifiable, and Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich said it was “sickening” that the White House was splicing video game imagery into its social media messaging about the conflict.

At the Vatican, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin rejected Washington’s claim of a “preventive war,” while also emphasizing that the Holy See would continue to keep dialogue open. Parolin said: “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.”