Pope Leo XIV on Sunday rejected claims that God justifies war and prayed especially for Christians in the Middle East during a Palm Sunday Mass before tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.
With the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran entering its second month and Russia's ongoing campaign in Ukraine, Leo dedicated his Palm Sunday homily to insist that God is the "king of peace" who rejects violence and comforts those who are oppressed.
"Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war," Leo said. "He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them."
Leaders on all sides of the Iran war have used religion to justify their actions. U.S. officials, especially Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, have invoked their Christian faith to cast the war as a Christian nation trying to vanquish its foes with military might.
War Glance
U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on a residential area in Isfahan in central Iran on Friday killed 26 people, including seven children, according to Press TV.
Residents of Israel's southern Negev region say they've been left defenceless against Iranian missile fire, and have called the government's response "a complete failure" rooted in years of policy neglect.
Yemen’s Houthis fired missiles at Israel on Saturday for the first time since the war on Iran broke out a month ago.
Russia is reportedly completing a shipment of drones, medicine, and food to Iran, signaling a potential escalation in support for Tehran following recent US and Israeli strikes.
Iran has rejected a US proposal to end the war with the Islamic Republic, setting out its own conditions for peace according to state media, even as Iran's foreign minister said Tehran does not plan to negotiate with the US.





























