Pope Leo XIV sent a strong message to US President Donald Trump regarding military actions in the Middle East while speaking in the Vatican on Sunday.
‘I am following with deep concern what is happening in the Middle East and in Iran during this tumultuous time,’ the Pope noted in his speech.
‘Stability and peace are not achieved through mutual threats, nor through the use of weapons, which sow destruction, suffering, and death, but only through reasonable, sincere, and responsible dialogue,’ he added.
His speech was delivered just after Trump promised to strike Iran ‘with a force that has never been seen before,’ after the regime vowed revenge following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Leo XIV is the first-ever American-born Pope.
The pontifex also warned of further large-scale bloodshed if escalations continue.
‘Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions,’ he added, ‘I address to the parties involved a heartfelt appeal to assume the moral responsibility to stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss!’
Pope Leo also prayed for nations to revisit diplomatic solutions to securing peace.
‘May diplomacy recover its role and may the good of peoples be promoted, peoples who long for peaceful coexistence founded on justice,’ he noted, ‘And let us continue to pray for peace.’
