By Ana Torres Fonseca
After Donald Trump’s threat to Iran if they did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Pope Leo XIV issued a statement calling it “truly unacceptable.”
“Today, as we all know, there has also been this threat against the entire people of Iran,” he said.
“There are issues here, certainly of international law, but even more so a moral issue for the good of the whole people, in their entirety.”
In the face of Trump’s online threats, the message of the pope is clear and concise: peace will not and can not be ultimately found in warfare.
“I would simply say, once again, what I said in the Orbi message on Sunday, asking all people of good will to search always for peace and not violence, to reject war, especially a war which many people have said is an unjust war,” he explained.
War, he added, is not a solution to any conflict, but quite the opposite – it creates even greater and deeper problems.
Pope Leo praises ceasefire as ‘genuine hope,’ presses for dialogue, peace
“In fact, we have a worldwide economic crisis, energy crisis, situation in the Middle East of great instability, which is only provoking more hatred throughout the world,” he said.
Tensions eased when Trump announced a two-week ceasefire, mediated by Pakistan. To continue contributing to a true and lasting peace, Pope Leo XIV has called for a prayer vigil this Saturday, 11 April, in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
