Speaking via video link from Jerusalem at a March 15 webinar organized by the International Oasis Foundation, Cardinal Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, warned against what he described as “pseudo-religious language.”
Middle East
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo to warring nations in the Middle East: ‘Cease fire!’
In an address to thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at midday on Sunday, March 15, Pope Leo called for a ceasefire in the war in the Middle East.
Posted inThe Weekly Dispatch
Archbishop Warda on Iran war: A refuge for Christians in Iraq is now under threat
A painful irony today is that Erbil—once a refuge for displaced Christian families—has become one of the Iraqi cities most frequently exposed to missile and drone attacks as war between U.S.-Israel and Iran continues.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo praises heroic action of priest killed by Israeli tank fire in Lebanon
Pope Leo called Father Pierre al-Rahi, who rushed to help parishioners wounded by Israeli fire, “a true shepherd, who always stayed beside his people, with the love and sacrifice of Jesus the Good Shepherd.”
Posted inNews
Iran’s Cardinal Mathieu evacuated to Rome
Cardinal Dominique Mathieu said he arrived in Rome March 8 “not without regret and sorrow for our brothers and sisters in Iran.”
Posted inNews
Pope Leo expresses ‘deep sorrow’ for Lebanese Maronite Catholic priest killed by Israeli tank fire
Pope Leo XIV expressed his “deep sorrow” for a Lebanese Maronite Catholic priest who was killed in southern Lebanon when an Israeli artillery tank fired on a house March 9.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo calls for a stop to ‘the thunderous sound of bombs’ in the Middle East
Pope Leo XIV again called for a stop to “the thunderous sound of bombs” in Iran and the Middle East, for the guns to “fall silent” and for the opening of “a space for dialogue” to find a way out of this latest conflict in the region.
Posted inThe Weekly Dispatch
A Catholic guide to understanding the war with Iran
The church’s just war tradition has been challenged by contemporary theologians as insufficient and outdated, yet it remains a worthy filter through which to judge the moral defensibility of a turn to war-making.
Posted inPodcasts
Why Pope Leo was ‘relatively restrained’ on Iran war
This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Gerard O’Connell explains why he saw Leo’s comments on Iran as relatively restrained compared to John Paul II’s at the beginning of the Iraq War.
Posted inPodcasts
Just or unjust? Catholics respond to the Iran war
This week on “Jesuitical,” Ashley sits down with America’s chief correspondent, Kevin Clarke, to discuss the widening conflict with Iran and whether the U.S. intervention in the conflict can be justified under just war theory.