Originally published at The Crux
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Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday renewed his call for an end to violence in the Middle East, while U.S. President Donald Trump announced the deployment of significant new forces to the region and delivered a 15-point peace plan to the leaders of Iran.
“I wish to renew the appeal for a ceasefire,” the pontiff told journalists gathered outside the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo.
“I urge all authorities to truly work through dialogue to resolve problems,” the pope said.
Leo called on leaders “to work for peace, but not with weapons—with dialogue, truly seeking a solution for everyone.”
“Hatred is increasing,” the pontiff said, “violence keeps getting worse.”
“More than a million people are isolated,” Leo said, “and there are so many dead.”
In Lebanon alone, where Israel continues a campaign with airstrikes and ground forces, as many as 4,000 people have been killed and at least a million people have been displaced – one in seven people in the country – creating a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions.
More than 4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Lebanon.
In Iran, where a joint U.S.-Israeli campaign of airstrikes has been underway for more than three weeks,
