Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, expressed relief that the United States and Iran entered a two-week ceasefire but maintained concerns about Lebanon's exclusion from the deal.
"Obviously I'm happy for anything that might lead us toward peace," Broglio told anchor Veronica Dudo in an April 8 interview on "EWTN News Nightly" prerecorded at 11:30 a.m. ET.
"I'm happy that at least the two sides are talking to each other and perhaps looking for a solution to avoid any sort of armed conflict and perhaps pull back on the tensions in the area," he said.
President Donald Trump announced on April 7 that he would hold off on further attacks as both countries negotiate long-term peace.
Part of the ceasefire agreement is that Iran will keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Reports from Iranian media Wednesday afternoon claimed that Iran had again closed the strait because of Israeli strikes on Lebanon. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the reports "unacceptable," but as of the time of publication the ceasefire continues.
The ceasefire suspended Trump's plan to destroy Iran's power plants and bridges just hours after he threatened that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again."
Although he expressed some relief for the potential progress, Broglio said in the interview there is "genuine concern" about Lebanon's exclusion, and it is "problematic that it isn't a whole vision of the entire area," as the Middle East has been "a tinderbox for a long time."
"It would be helpful that any sort of peace dialogue involve all of the participants and all of those who might be either belligerents or victims of any sort of military action," Broglio said.
The archbishop said the dialogue "should have taken place before any sort of military action was taking place" and noted that the United States was not directly attacked before it launched the military strikes on Iran, and he believes some elements were missing to justify the American attack, based on Catholic just war doctrine.
"It's a long process because the tensions are so extreme and also the emotions in that part of the world are so strong," he said. "But I think that certainly what Pope Leo has said … is that we really have to sit down and dialogue rather than see men and women sacrifice their lives for an armed conflict. And I think it's essential to enter into a process of negotiation, which of course means that everyone's going to have to cede something."
Broglio said he hopes, in these negotiations, religious figures "could bring the notion of dialogue, the notion of understanding, the attempt to listen to one another."
"I think it would be a valuable contribution to the discourse because the three great monotheistic religions are all involved in that area," he said. "I think we could bring something to bear."
Broglio said the archdiocese is united with Pope Leo XIV's calls for Catholics to pray for peace in the region. The Holy Father announced on Easter that he will lead a prayer vigil for peace on April 11 at St. Peter's Basilica.
"We'll certainly encourage people to pray for peace," Broglio said. "We are more interested than most in peace because the men and women that I'm privileged to serve know what warfare costs firsthand."
Spiritual needs of the soldiers
With many American soldiers stationed throughout the Middle East as negotiations continue, Broglio said the archdiocese is working "to meet the spiritual needs with the chaplains who are actually in the Middle East right now."
"I know that they are working very hard to answer some of the questions that men and women might have," he said. "They're bringing the sacraments to them. And at the same time, most of the families that were in the area, such as the ones who were in Bahrain, have been brought home. So [families of the soldiers are] either in Europe or they're back in the United States."
"But obviously they're separated from their loved ones. So that is another area where there has to be some ministerial assistance," the archbishop said. "And there also has to be some, some ability to listen and to try to comfort them in this time of separation. If you think about people who have moved to a place and then are completely uprooted, it's a very drastic situation for them. And so they certainly need the comfort of the sacraments and also the counsel that chaplains can bring."
