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Pope Leo issued a poignant message against the war in Iran, urging world leaders to continue searching for peace as the conflict in the Middle East intensifies once again.
Pope Leo, the world’s first American pontiff, spoke to reporters on Tuesday, where he showed his opposition to the ongoing war in Iran, calling the conflict “unjust,” issuing a call to “remember the innocent victims” who have perished since it started in February.
“[I am] asking all people of goodwill to search always for peace and not violence, to reject war, especially a war which many people have said is an unjust war, which is continuing to escalate and which is not resolving anything. In fact, we have a worldwide economic crisis, energy crisis, situation in the Middle East of great instability, which is only provoking more hatred throughout the world,” the pope said.
• Pope Leo issues thinly veiled threat to Trump's July Fourth plans
“So come back to the table. Let's talk. Let's look for solutions in a peaceful way. And let's remember, especially the innocent, children, the elderly, Sick. So many people who have already become or will become victims of this continued warfare. And to remind all that attacks on civilian infrastructure is against international law, but that it is also a sign of the hatred, the division and the destruction that the human being is capable of. And we all want to work for peace. People want peace,” he added.
Pope Leo has been a vocal critic of the war since it started earlier this year. His comments have outraged President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly shot back at the religious leader, suggesting he stop opining on political issues.
Tensions rose in March when President Trump characterized himself as Jesus Christ in a now-deleted social media post.
The image showed Trump in a robe, healing a man with divine powers. Also behind him were famous American monuments, including the Statue of Liberty and the Lincoln Memorial. Warplanes and bald eagles were also shown in what appeared to be the president's depiction of heaven.
When asked about the picture by reporters, Trump said the AI-generated image is “supposed to be me as a doctor making people better, and I do make people better. I make people a lot better.”
Trump later shared another AI-generated picture of Jesus hugging him, writing “"The Radical Left Lunatic might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!!"
In another instance, during a Palm Sunday address, the pope stated that God “rejects” the prayers of those who wage war and “does not listen” to leaders who invoke faith to justify conflict.
Days later, Trump launched a scathing attack on Pope Leo, saying he doesn't think history's first American pope is "doing a very good job" and that "he's a very liberal person," while also suggesting that the pontiff should "stop catering to the Radical Left."
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” the president wrote in his post, adding, “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
The pontiff then replied that his opposition to the war was rooted in the Gospel, not political ideology, and that he does not fear the Trump administration.
"To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think, is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is," Leo said on a plane to Algeria. "And I'm sorry to hear that, but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today."
Pope Leo criticizes Iran war once again as conflict intensifies
The pontiff’s comments come amid a 10th straight day of attacks between the United States and Iran across the Middle East on Tuesday. The attacks overshadowed diplomatic efforts in Pakistan to salvage an interim ceasefire deal that collapsed earlier this month as the two countries battled for control of a waterway vital to world energy supplies.
Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict that is seeking to rejuvenate diplomacy, but it was unclear what new arrangement might be reached to end the war. Speaking from the Oval Office, U.S. President Donald Trump gave a dim view on possible talks, saying the U.S. had “no interest in meeting.”
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled, and as the fight for control over the waterway intensifies, both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure in the region relied on by millions of people.
A barrage of U.S. strikes hasn’t compelled Tehran to loosen its grip on the strait, through which about one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and natural gas was shipped before the war. The U.S. continued its airstrikes on the Islamic Republic early Tuesday, and Iran attacked a tanker in the strait, forcing the crew to abandon the ship.
Iran also kept up attacks against U.S. allies in the region. Sirens in Bahrain and Kuwait warned residents on Tuesday afternoon of incoming projectiles.
In the Red Sea, Iran-backed Houthi rebels have opened a new front against Saudi Arabia by declaring a naval blockade of the kingdom, threatening the flow of global oil supplies and trade. With the Strait of Hormuz blocked up, Saudi Arabia has been relying on a pipeline to the Red Sea to get millions of barrels of oil out to market.
