Pope Leo XIV delivered his strongest rebuke yet of the ongoing U.S.-Israel war in Iran on Saturday, condemning what he described as a \u201cdelusion of omnipotence\u201d driving the conflict and calling on world leaders to end the violence and pursue negotiations.<\/p>\n
The Chicago-born pontiff made the remarks during an evening prayer service at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica in Rome, held the same day American and Iranian delegations began face-to-face peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, while a fragile ceasefire remained in place.<\/p>\n
Although Leo did not directly mention the United States or President Donald Trump, his message appeared aimed at political leaders who have justified the war through displays of military strength and religious rhetoric.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough of the idolatry of self and money,\u201d Leo said during the vigil. \u201cEnough of the display of power. Enough of war.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among those present at the service was Belgian Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu, the archbishop of Tehran. The United States was represented in the Vatican\u2019s diplomatic corps by Deputy Chief of Mission Laura Hochla, according to the U.S. Embassy.<\/p>\n
During the early weeks of the conflict, Leo had limited his comments to general appeals for peace and dialogue. However, his tone has sharpened in recent days. Earlier this week, the pope criticized President Trump\u2019s threat to \u201cannihilate\u201d Iranian civilization, calling such rhetoric \u201ctruly unacceptable\u201d and urging diplomatic solutions instead.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Leo encouraged people around the world to pray for peace and to demand that their leaders work toward ending the war. The Rome vigil was part of a wider effort that included simultaneous prayer services taking place across the United States and other countries.<\/p>\n
The pope described prayer as a way to break what he called a \u201cdemonic cycle of evil\u201d and to build a world rooted in justice and peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is here that we find a bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive,\u201d Leo said. \u201cEven the holy name of God, the God of life, is being dragged into discourses of death.\u201d<\/p>\n
Religious language has increasingly been invoked in connection with the war. Some U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, have framed the conflict through their Christian faith, portraying the United States as a nation defending itself against adversaries.<\/p>\n
Leo has strongly rejected the idea that religion can justify armed conflict, stating that God does not bless wars or those who drop bombs.<\/p>\n
During the service, the pope sat beside the altar wearing a red liturgical cape and stole while holding a rosary. Many priests, nuns and worshippers in the basilica prayed along, reciting the \u201cOur Father\u201d and \u201cHail Mary.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Vatican has also expressed deep concern about the wider regional impact of the conflict, particularly the possibility of Israel\u2019s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon escalating and threatening Christian communities in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pope Leo XIV delivered his strongest rebuke yet of the ongoing U.S.-Israel war in Iran on Saturday, condemning what he described as a \u201cdelusion of omnipotence\u201d driving the conflict and calling on world leaders to end the violence and pursue negotiations. The Chicago-born pontiff made the remarks during an evening prayer service at St. Peter\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":16329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[3672,19359,19356,19360,19352,19354,19351,19357,19358,19355,19353],"class_list":["post-16327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-amat","tag-catholic-church-position-war-morality-bombing-civilians","tag-pope-criticism-donald-trump-war-rhetoric-annihilate-iranian-civilization","tag-pope-leo-call-for-dialogue-diplomacy-end-middle-east-conflict","tag-pope-leo-condemns-war-rhetoric-omnipotence-criticism-us-israel-conflict","tag-pope-leo-xiv-prayer-vigil-st-peters-basilica-peace-appeal","tag-pope-leo-xiv-vatican-prayer-service-war-in-iran-peace-call","tag-religious-rhetoric-war-criticism-pope-leo-xiv-statement","tag-us-iran-peace-talks-islamabad-global-reaction-vatican-message","tag-vatican-concern-lebanon-hezbollah-conflict-christian-communities-south-lebanon","tag-vatican-response-middle-east-war-iran-israel-united-states-diplomacy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}