Overview
- During his Sunday Angelus, Pope Leo renewed his plea for a ceasefire, calling the death and suffering a scandal for the entire human family and insisting Christians cannot remain silent.
- In fresh remarks on Monday, he condemned aerial strikes as indiscriminate, saying bombings should have been banned forever and warning that their continued use is regression, not progress.
- Cardinal Pietro Parolin publicly urged President Donald Trump to finish the Iran war as soon as possible and told Israeli leaders to leave Lebanon alone, an atypically blunt Vatican intervention.
- The conflict has entered its fourth week with no ceasefire, as reports cite rising casualties, including more than 1,000 deaths in Lebanon and about 1,444 reported dead and over 18,000 injured in Iran.
- The Holy See coupled moral appeals with calls for dialogue and respect for human dignity, pressing for immediate steps to stop the regional escalation.