Pope Leo XIV has called for an end to rising conflicts
across the world following the ongoing war between the US, Israel and Iran.
On February 28, the US and Israel launched coordinated air
strikes on Iran, targeting nuclear facilities, missile systems, and senior
leadership in the country.
The strikes immediately triggered a wider regional war after
Iran responded with massive retaliatory attacks.
In an X post on Friday, the pontiff said peace can only be
achieved through dialogue and coexistence, noting that faith cannot be used to
justify violence.
He warned that military action cannot deliver lasting
stability, adding that those who follow Christ must reject war in all its
forms.
“God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple
of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded
the sword and today drop bombs,” the Pope wrote.
“Military action will not create space for freedom or times
of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and
dialogue among peoples.”
Pope Leo also decried the widespread violence in sacred
regions of the Christian East, saying war has desecrated holy sites and reduced
human lives to expendable losses.
He added that no political or economic interest can justify
civilian deaths.
“Absurd and inhuman violence is spreading ferociously
through the sacred places of the Christian East, profaned by the blasphemy of
war and the brutality of business, with no regard for people’s lives,” the Pope
said.
“No gain can be worth the life of the weakest, children, or
families. No cause can justify the shedding of innocent blood.”
The pontiff also noted the widening global inequality,
adding that while hundreds of millions remain in extreme poverty, wealth is
concentrated in the hands of a few.
Pope Leo called for a fairer and more moral distribution of
resources.
“Hundreds of millions of people throughout the world are
immersed in extreme poverty. Yet, disproportionate wealth remains in the hands
of a few,” he said.
“It is an unjust scenario, in the face of which we cannot
fail to question ourselves and commit to change things.
“There is no lack of resources at the root of disparities,
but the need to address solvable problems related to a more equitable
distribution of wealth, to be achieved with moral sense and honesty.”
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