Pope Leo XIV welcomed the newly announced ceasefire in the Middle East as “a sign of genuine hope” after what he described as “hours of extreme tension,” while urging a return to negotiations and calling the faithful to prayer, the Catholic News Service, owned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, reported April 8.
“Only by returning to negotiations can the war be brought to an end,” he said in remarks in Italian following his April 8 general audience in St. Peter’s Square.
He made his remarks just hours after the United States announced that it and Iran had reached a two-week ceasefire.
The Pope’s appeal for dialogue echoed remarks he made the previous evening at Castel Gandolfo, the Papal Palace, where he urged leaders to return to the negotiating table even before the ceasefire was announced.
“Today, as we all know, there has also been this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this is truly unacceptable,” he told journalists April 7. “There are certainly issues of international law here, but even more, it is a moral question concerning the good of the people as a whole.”
Pope Leo XIV announced April 5, that a Prayer Vigil for Peace on April 11 will be celebrated in St Peter’s Basilica, over which he will preside, and that everyone, both in person or following from anywhere in the world, is encouraged to join, Vatican News reported.
