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| “No armed victory can make up for a mother’s grief, a child’s fear, or a stolen future.” - Pope Leo XIV artwork by Be a Heart |
Pope Leo XIV after U.S. bombings in Iran: ‘Humanity cries out and pleads for peace’
Reacting to what he called the “alarming news” of U.S. airstrikes on
nuclear facilities in Iran, Pope Leo XIV on Sunday [June 22,2025] pleaded with the
international community “to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an
irreparable abyss.”
Pope Leo XIV spook to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus on June 22, 2025:
“There are no distant conflicts when human dignity is at stake,” he said. “War does not solve problems — on the contrary, it amplifies them and inflicts deep wounds on the history of nations that take generations to heal.”
The pope also evoked the most heartbreaking human toll of violence. “No armed victory can make up for a mother’s grief, a child’s fear, or a stolen future.”
Finally, he renewed his call for diplomacy and commitment to peace: “Let diplomacy silence the weapons; let nations shape their future through works of peace, not through violence and bloody conflict.”