Speaking to thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square on March 1, the American-born pope urged all parties to “assume the moral responsibility of halting the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss.” His remarks came just hours after U.S. officials confirmed the killing of Iran’s 86-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — a development that dramatically raised fears of a wider regional war.
“I follow with profound concern what is happening in the Middle East and Iran in these dramatic hours,” the pope said after his Sunday Angelus prayer. He stressed that “stability and peace are not built with mutual threats nor with weapons that sow destruction, pain and death, but only through a dialogue that is reasonable, authentic and responsible.”
The conflict escalated rapidly after Israel, joined by the United States, launched what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a “preemptive attack” on Iran on Feb. 28. The strikes reportedly targeted military and strategic sites across 24 of Iran’s 31 provinces. Iran, a country of roughly 93 million people and geographically vast, responded with drones and ballistic missiles aimed at Israel and U.S. military targets in several Gulf states and Jordan.
In Tel Aviv, at least two people were killed when an Iranian missile struck a residential building, and more than 100 were reported injured in the first day of counterstrikes. Iranian state media reported dozens killed in Tehran following Israeli and U.S. bombardments. Among the reported Iranian casualties was Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces.
The killing of Ayatollah Khamenei marked a turning point. Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, reportedly called the act “an open war against Muslims” and vowed retaliation. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, announcing U.S. participation in the strikes, declared that Washington would no longer tolerate what he described as decades of hostility from Tehran. He warned Iran against further escalation, stating that any additional attacks would be met with unprecedented force.
The unfolding crisis has alarmed world leaders. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, warning that failure to de-escalate could trigger a broader regional conflict with grave consequences for civilians and international stability.
For Pope Leo XIV, however, the moral and spiritual dimensions of the crisis stand at the forefront. In a New Year’s address earlier this year to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, he warned that “war is back in vogue” and lamented the erosion of the post-World War II principle prohibiting nations from violating one another’s borders by force. He cautioned that peace is increasingly being pursued through weapons rather than dialogue — a shift he described as a grave threat to the rule of law and peaceful coexistence.
On Sunday, he reiterated his call for diplomacy to “regain its role and promote the good of the peoples who yearn for a peaceful coexistence founded on justice.” He urged believers worldwide to continue praying for peace, reminding them that “only peace, a gift from God, can heal the wounds between peoples.”
Beyond the Israel-Iran conflict, the pope also expressed concern about rising tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, appealing for an urgent return to dialogue there as well. His message underscored a broader anxiety that multiple flashpoints around the world could converge into a period of sustained global instability.
As missiles fly and rhetoric hardens, Pope Leo’s appeal stands in stark contrast to the language of retaliation and force dominating political discourse. His warning about a “spiral of violence” reflects the fear that each strike invites another, deepening hostility and pushing the region closer to a prolonged and devastating war.
Whether his plea will influence decision-makers remains uncertain. But his message was clear: without restraint, dialogue, and moral responsibility, the abyss he warned of may become unavoidable.
