Pope Leo Calls for Middle East Ceasefire in Strongest Comments Yet

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March 15, 2026 | 09:48 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Pope Leo XIV has called on the leaders responsible for starting the war in Iran to stop fighting, saying that violence will never bring hoped-for peace.

"On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict," Leo said. “Cease fire so that avenues for dialogue may be reopened. Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that the people are waiting for."

Although he mentioned neither the US or Israel by name in his Sunday noon blessing, he did refer to attacks that hit schools, apparently meaning the missile strike on an elementary school in Minab in southern Iran in the first days of the war, which killed more than 165 people, mostly children.

Leo said he was close to the families of those who had been killed in the attacks "which have hit schools, hospitals and residential centers."

US officials have said the strike on the Iranian school was likely carried out by the US while acting on outdated intelligence information and that an investigation is ongoing.

The Vatican has highlighted the deaths caused by the strike in Minab, with an aerial photo of the mass grave being dug for the young victims on the front page of its official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, on March 6, bearing the headline "The Face of War."

The pope, the first US pontiff in history, also said he was particularly concerned about the consequences of the war in Lebanon, a country with a major Catholic population, where aid groups are warning of a humanitarian crisis.

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