(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 22.06.2025).- Following the US invasion of Iran and the worsening of the war situation in different parts of the world, especially in the Middle East, at noon on Sunday, June 22, Pope Leo made a statement from St. Peter’s Square, in the context of the Angelus address: «Alarming news continues to arrive from the Middle East, especially from Iran. In this dramatic moment, which includes Israel and Palestine, the daily suffering of the population risks being forgotten, especially in Gaza and other territories, where the need for adequate humanitarian aid is ever more urgent.
Pope Leo acknowledged that «today more than ever, humanity cries out and asks for peace. It is a cry that demands responsibility and reason, and must not be stifled by the roar of weapons or by rhetorical words that incite conflict. Every member of the international community has the moral responsibility to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable vortex. There are no «distant» conflicts when human dignity is at stake.»
And he declared: «War does not resolve problems, but rather amplifies them and produces deep wounds in the history of peoples, which take generations to heal. No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, the stolen future. Let diplomacy silence the weapons! Let nations chart their future with works of peace, not with violence or bloody conflicts!»
Just last Wednesday, June 18, Pope Leo raised his voice, also from St. Peter’s Square, saying: «The heart of the Church is torn apart by the cries that rise from places at war, in particular from Ukraine, Iran, Israel and Gaza. We must not get used to war! On the contrary, we must reject the allure of powerful and sophisticated weapons as a temptation. Indeed, in today’s war, «by employing scientific weapons of every kind, their intrinsic cruelty threatens to lead those who fight to a barbarism far surpassing that of times past» (Vatican Council II, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 79). Therefore, in the name of human dignity and international law, I repeat to those in charge what Pope Francis used to say: war is always a defeat! And with Pius XII: ‘Nothing is lost in peace, everything can be lost in war.'»
