A statement released by the Holy See Press Office states that the Supreme Pontiff issued this call after the Angelus prayer, before thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

“We are receiving alarming news from the Middle East, especially from Iran,” said the Bishop of Rome regarding the bombing by US aircraft against the Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, according to a note published on its website by the Vatican News newspaper.

‟Today more than ever, humankind cries out and invokes peace,” said Leo XIV, who emphasized that this ‟is a cry that demands responsibility and reason, and must not be silenced by the roar of weapons and rhetorical words that incite conflict.”

‟Every member of the international community has the moral responsibility to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” because ‟there are no distant conflicts when human dignity is at stake,” added the Holy Father, who also referred to Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza.

He warned that with the worsening conflict between Israel and Iran, which the United States directly joined a few hours ago, the daily suffering of the population in the Strip risks being forgotten, “where the urgency of proper humanitarian aid becomes ever more pressing.”

The leader of the Catholic Church reaffirmed that ‟war does not resolve problems, but rather amplifies them and produces deep wounds in the history of peoples, which take generations to heal,” and declared that ‟no armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, the stolen future.”

‟Let diplomacy silence the weapons! Let nations chart their future with works of peace, not with violence and bloody conflicts!” added Pope Leo XIV.

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