In what observers are calling one of his most forceful statements to date, Pope Leo XIV used a Saturday peace prayer at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome to denounce militarism and call for negotiations to end ongoing conflicts — most pointedly the war involving Iran.
“Enough of the idolatry of oneself and of money! Enough of the display of force! Enough of war! True strength is manifested in the service of life,” the pontiff declared. The remarks, reported by both Germany’s Der Spiegel and Costa Rica’s La Nación, stopped short of naming the United States directly, but the intended audience was unmistakable. Just days earlier, on April 7, Leo XIV had called the threat against Iran “truly unacceptable,” referencing rhetoric from Donald Trump.
Der Spiegel described the Pope’s language as targeting “omnipotence fantasies” (Allmachtsfantasien) in wartime, while urging all parties to “sit down at the negotiating table.” The intervention marks a continued escalation in Vatican diplomacy, with Leo XIV clearly positioning himself as a moral counterweight to belligerent postures on the world stage.
