Pope Leo made pointed remarks about war on Saturday, a day after President Donald Trump threatened that the “only reason” Iranians are alive today is to negotiate.
The first American pontiff, 70, did not call out Trump by name, but made a fiery appeal to “the leaders of nations” and renewed calls for the end of conflict amid Trump’s warmongering in Iran.
“Dear brothers and sisters, there are certainly binding responsibilities that fall to the leaders of nations. To them we cry out: Stop! It is time for peace! Sit at the table of dialogue and mediation, not at the table where rearmament is planned, and deadly actions are decided,” he told some 10,000 Catholics gathered at St. Peter’s Basilica.
The vigil was attended by dozens of cardinals, patriarchs, and bishops.
Leo, who has repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration over his outspoken opposition to the conflict in the Middle East, warned that “war divides” and “arrogance tramples upon others” while reminding that prayer serves “a bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive.”
“The balance within the human family has been severely destabilized. Even the holy Name of God, the God of life, is being dragged into discourses of death,” he lamented. “Brothers and sisters, those who pray are aware of their own limitations; they do not kill or threaten with death.”
The pope also said that the church “proclaims the Gospel of peace and instills obedience to God rather than any human authority, especially when the inherent dignity of other human beings is threatened by continuous violations of international law.”
Leo’s remarks on Saturday marked the latest in a string of thinly veiled jabs about the Iran war that has put the Trump administration at odds with the Vatican.
The pope said it was “truly unacceptable” for Trump, 79, to threaten Iranians in an ominous Truth Social post.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump, who bills himself as a proud Christian, wrote just hours ahead of his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
“Let’s remember especially the innocent, the children, the elderly, the sick, so many people who have already become or will become victims of this continued warfare,” Leo countered.
He added, “To remind all that attacks on civilian infrastructure is against international law, but that it is also a sign of the hatred, the division, the destruction that human being is capable of, and we all want to work for peace.”
