Iran

A coalition of Catholic intellectual and professional groups across the Asia-Pacific has issued a strong public statement condemning recent military attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran, warning that the escalating conflict risks triggering a wider regional war and deepening civilian suffering.

Pope Leo XIV has echoed this call. In a recent Angelus message, he said peace is not achieved through threats or weapons, but through “reasonable and responsible dialogue.”

Altogether, Catholics number about 21,000 across Latin, Armenian and Chaldean rites in a country of nearly 87 million people.

Pope Leo XIV has called for restraint and renewed dialogue amid escalating violence in the Middle East, warning that peace cannot be built through threats or military force.

Pope Francis offered his condolences to the victims of a coal mine explosion in eastern Iraq on Saturday night, marking one of the worst mining disasters in the country’s history.

“I express my closeness to the Iranian people...many who were injured, and all those who were affected by this great suffering,” said Pope Francis.