Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization is ‘truly unacceptable’, says Pope

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization was “truly unacceptable” and said any attack on civilian infrastructure would violate international law.

In some of the strongest comments yet against war, the US pope urged Americans and other people of good will to demand that their political leaders and congressional representatives reject war and work for peace.

“Today we all know that there was a threat against all the people of Iran. It’s really unacceptable,” Leo said as he left his country home in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.

He was referring to Trump’s threat that “the whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran fails to meet a deadline to agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Leo recalled his Easter appeal for peace and for the rejection of war, “especially a war which many people say is an unjust war, which is escalating, and which solves nothing.”

He invited all people of good will to contact their political leaders and congressional representatives to remind them that attacks on civilian infrastructure are “against international law” and are “a sign of hatred, division, destruction, human beings are capable, and we all want to work for peace.”

In recent weeks, the first American-born pope in history has raised his voice against the US-Israeli war in Iran after issuing a muted appeal for peace and dialogue.

For the first time last week, Leo publicly named Trump as saying that he hoped the US president was indeed “looking for an off-ramp.”

The Vatican has a tradition of diplomatic neutrality, and the pope rarely names a political leader or country in a particularly critical way. But the Iran war pushed even a reserved pope to break with typical protocol.

On Tuesday, Leo did not quote Trump by name but in comments in English he urged people to contact their political leaders and representatives in Congress “to ask them, to tell them to work for peace and to reject war.”

“We have a global economic crisis, an energy crisis, (a) massive instability in the Middle East, which is creating more hatred around the world,” he said.

He said the message to political leaders: “Let’s go back to the table, let’s talk, let’s find a solution in a peaceful way and remember especially the innocent children, the elderly, the sick, the many people who have been or will be victims of this continuous war.”

The Vatican is particularly concerned about how the conflict with Iran has spilled over into a renewed war in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The Vatican fears for Christians in southern Lebanon, who are an important bulwark for the Church in the region.

Earlier in the day, the Vatican issued a special message from Leo to the residents of Debal, Lebanon, after a Vatican-led convoy carrying more than 40 tons of aid was prevented from arriving in an Easter shipment. It was canceled for what the Maronite Church in Lebanon said were “security reasons”.

In the message, Leo expressed solidarity with the “injustices” suffered by Christians in southern Lebanon and compared them to the sufferings of Christ.

“In your misfortunes, in the injustices you have suffered, in the sense of sacrifice you have suffered, you are very close to Jesus. You are also close to him on this Easter day when he defeated the forces of evil, and that resonates for you as a promise of the future,” read the message, which was written in French and signed by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pie.

Leo traveled to Lebanon late last year on his first international trip as pope.

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