Pope Leo XIV renews calls for peace, dialogue as Iran strikes continue

Pope Leo XIV called for prayer and effort for peace on Tuesday, as a U.S.-Israeli air campaign continued for the fourth day in Iran.

“Pray for peace,” Leo told journalists gathered outside the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo on Tuesday evening. “Work for peace,” the pontiff said, “less hatred – hatred in the world is constantly increasing.”

The pope called for people everywhere “to truly strive to promote dialogue” and “seek solutions – to resolve problems without weapons.”

By Tuesday evening, the conflict had spread to several countries throughout the Mideast region.

Israeli forces responded to Hezbollah attacks in Lebanon on Monday and struck targets in Beirut on Tuesday, while the U.S. embassies in Dubai and Riyadh suffered drone attacks.

Since the air campaign against the theocratic regime in Iran began on Saturday, Iran has hit targets in Bahrain, Qatar, other targets in the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia, and Oman

The conflict has almost entirely halted commercial traffic in Strait of Hormuz, the maritime shipping lane off the southern coast of Iran, through which nearly 20 percent of the oil consumed worldwide passes each day.

Prices have skyrocketed and insurance carriers have canceled coverage for ships traveling through the Strait. U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier on Tuesday that he is considering whether to order U.S. naval vessels to escort tankers through the waters.

Six U.S. servicemembers are confirmed dead, nearly 800 people have been killed in Iran, and at least 11 people have been killed in Israel as a result of the violence.

On Monday, Trump said the campaign could last as long as five weeks, adding that the U.S. has “capability to go far longer than that.”

Also on Monday, Trump told the New York Post he would not rule out deploying ground forces in Iran “if they were necessary.”

At the Angelus on Sunday, Leo said he was following “with deep concern” the events then beginning to unfold in Iran, and warned that the situation in the country risked escalating into “a tragedy of enormous proportions.”

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The pope on Sunday urged all parties involved “to assume the moral responsibility of halting the spiral of violence before it becomes an unbridgeable chasm.”

“Stability and peace,” he said on Sunday, “are not built with mutual threats nor with weapons, which sow destruction, pain, and death, but only with a reasonable, authentic and responsible dialogue.”