Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday condemned President Donald Trump’s threat to strike Iranian civilian infrastructure as he implored leaders to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing war.
Leo said Trump’s threat that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran does not strike a deal is “truly unacceptable.”
“I would simply say, once again, what I said in the ‘Urbi et Orbi’ message on Sunday: asking all people of goodwill to search, always, for peace and not violence; to reject war, especially a war which many people have said is an unjust war, which is continuing to escalate and which is not resolving anything,” Leo said as he left his house in Castel Gandolfo.
The situation in the Middle East, Leo added, “is only provoking more hatred.” He urged leaders to “come back to the table” and find a peaceful solution to end the war as he pointed out that attacks on civilian infrastructure go against international law.
“Let’s remember especially the innocent children, the elderly, the sick, so many people who have already become or will become victims of this continued warfare,” he said.
Leo also called on citizens of all the countries involved to contact political leaders and “tell them to work for peace and to reject war.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump has given Iran until 8 p.m. Tuesday evening to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been closed almost entirely for the last several weeks as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran rages on. If a deal is not reached, Trump threatened, the U.S. will begin striking critical civilian infrastructure like power plants and bridges.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump said in a post to social media.
While he left open the possibility that “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?” Trump said, “We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World.”
Leo is not the only religious official to condemn Trump’s latest threat.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, led by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, called on Trump to “step back from the precipice of war and negotiate a just settlement” before more lives are lost.
“The threat of destroying a whole civilization and the intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure cannot be morally justified,” Coakley said. “There are other ways to resolve conflict between peoples.