Pope Leo XIV renewed his forceful appeal for an end to war and urged an embrace of dialogue, distinguishing himself as a singular global voice calling for restraint and moral accountability amid bellicose statements from U.S. leadership.
The first U.S.-born pope called on U.S. citizens to plead with elected officials to work for peace in remarks to the press April 7 and called threats to destroy Iran's civilization unacceptable. Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump promised on social media the annihilation of the "whole civilization" of Iran if the country fails to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The pope said "attacks on civilian infrastructure [are] against international law but that it's also a sign of hatred, division, and destruction that human beings are capable of, and that we all want to work for peace. People want peace. I would invite citizens of all the countries involved to speak with political leaders, authorities, congressmen, to ask them, tell them to work for peace."
He also said, speaking in Italian: "Today, as we all know, there was also this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this truly is not acceptable. Let us begin with dialogue. We should resolve problems without reaching this point, yet here we are. We must pray a great deal. I would like to invite everyone to pray, but also to look for ways to communicate, perhaps with members of Congress and with the authorities, to say that we do not want war, we want peace. We are a people who love peace, and there is a great need for peace in the world."
"I would simply say what I said in the urbi orbi message, to reject war, which many people have said is an unjust war, which is continuing to escalate and is not resolving anything," the pope said. "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 spoke to the press outside the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo before returning to Rome after a daylong stay there. He made his appeal in Italian and English and did not take reporters' questions.
"Let's come back to the table, let's talk, let's look for solutions in a peaceful way, and let's remember especially the innocent," the pope said. "Children, the elderly, the sick, so many people have already become victims of this continued warfare."
Pope Leo XIV has repeatedly rejected rhetoric invoking God to justify loss of life. "Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war," Leo said on Palm Sunday.
On April 7, Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, underscored the pope's repeated calls for peace and urged Trump to avoid war with Iran.
Carrying hope
Pope Leo XIV in his Easter homily called for peace throughout the world, urging Christians to carry the hope of the Resurrection into a world wounded by war, violence, and injustice.
Leo used his first Easter urbi et orbi message April 5 to make a forceful appeal for an end to war and a renewed embrace of dialogue. He will lead a prayer vigil for peace on April 11 at St. Peter's Basilica.
The pope has repeatedly condemned war, saying it is a moral failure rooted in abuse of power and domination rather than dialogue. He urged those "who have weapons to lay them down" and those with power "to choose peace — not peace imposed by force, but through dialogue."
In the Easter message, the pope warned that the world is sliding into a "globalization of indifference" toward the suffering and deaths caused by war.
Valentina Di Donato contributed to this story.
