Ana Torres Fonseca
The hours between Sunday, April 5, and Tuesday, April 7 had the world on edge. On his social media, Donald Trump issued a warning: if Iran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, he would launch a devastating attack.
An entire civilization will die tonight, never to return. I do not want that to happen, but it will probably happen.
As he left Villa Barberini in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV made the following statement to the journalists waiting outside his residence:
POPE LEO XIV
Today, as we all know, there has also been this threat against the entire people of Iran. This is truly unacceptable. 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.
POPE LEO XIV
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.
War, he added, is not a solution to any conflict, but quite the opposite—it creates even greater and deeper problems.
POPE LEO XIV
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.
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, April 11, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
