In remarks to journalists waiting for him outside Villa Barberini, the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, the Pope lamented that “hatred is increasing, violence is escalating,” following the start of the war on Iran launched by the United States and Israel on February 28.
“More than a million people are isolated, and many deaths are being recorded,” stated the Holy Father, who asked the faithful to pray for peace and urged “all authorities to work, through dialogue, to resolve the problems,” a release published on the Vatican News website stresses.
The leader of the Catholic Church called for “Ceasefire” and “working for peace, but not with weapons,” but rather “with dialogue, truly seeking a solution for all,” so that hostilities may cease and paths to peace, based on sincere dialogue and respect for the dignity of every person, may finally open.
After the Angelus prayer Pope Leo XIV urged people not to remain silent in the face of the suffering of defenseless victims, because “the death and pain caused by wars are a scandal to humanity.”
On March 1, just 24 hours after the strikes by Washington and Tel Aviv on several Iranian cities started, Pope Leo XIV noted, during the Sunday Angelus prayer, that these events represent a “tragedy of enormous proportions,” with the risk of an “irreparable abyss.”
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