Pope Leo XIV on Thursday denounced the Iranian regime’s killing of protesters but confused that, “as a pastor,” he cannot support the US-Israeli war with Iran.
The pope’s remarks, made to reporters on board the papal aircraft coming back from his journey to Africa, comply with President Donald Trump’s attacks on the pontiff for his stance on the Middle East battle.
During an in-flight press convention, the pope additionally addressed the subject of immigration, saying that in some instances immigrants are being handled “worse than pets.”
The first American pope informed NCS final month that he hoped Trump would discover an “off-ramp” to finish the war in Iran, and he spoke out in opposition to justifying battle on spiritual grounds. But within the hours earlier than the pope took off for Africa on April 13, the US president sharply criticized the pope.
“As a pastor, I cannot be in favor of war,” Leo informed reporters flying with him from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. “I would like to encourage all to make efforts to look for answers that come from a culture of peace and not from a place of hate and division.”
Leo mentioned the US and Israeli bombing of Iran has created a “chaotic situation for the global economy,” together with “a whole population in Iran, of innocent people, which is suffering because of this war.” Highlighting the human price of battle, the pope revealed that he carries a photograph of a Lebanese Muslim boy, who had carried an indication welcoming the pontiff to the nation on the finish of final 12 months and who was killed within the war.
“The question of Iran is evidently very complex,” he informed reporters flying with him from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea to Rome. “The negotiations they are trying to do — one day Iran says yes, and the United States says no, and vice versa, and we don’t know where it goes.”
Regardless of whether or not “there is regime change or no regime change,” the emphasis ought to be on stopping the “death of so many innocents,” Leo mentioned. He cited a letter from the households of college youngsters who died on the primary day of the Iran war.
“For me, if there is regime change or not, it’s not clear what the regime is at this moment after the first days of the … attacks of Israel and the United States against Iran,” he mentioned.
The pope, who alternated between English, Spanish and Italian when answering questions, additionally criticized the Iranian regime’s killing of protesters in his first remarks on the subject.
Asked if he condemned Tehran’s lethal crackdown on protests in January, Leo mentioned: “I condemn all actions that are unjust. I condemn the taking of people’s lives. I condemn capital punishment. I believe that human life is to be respected,” Leo, 70, mentioned. “When a regime, when a country, takes decisions which take away the lives of people unjustly, then obviously that is something that should be condemned.”
The pope, who has simply accomplished the longest international go to since his election final May, additionally addressed one other situation on which he has been at odds with the Trump administration: the remedy of immigrants.
“They are human beings, and we must treat human beings in a humanitarian way and not treat them often times worse than pets at home or animals,” the pope mentioned in response to a query concerning the immigration debate in Spain.
The pope identified that nations have “the right to implement rules for their borders.” But he mentioned individuals mustn’t “enter without order, creating situations which then can sometimes be even more unjust in the places they are arriving to than from where they just left.”
But Leo, who spent years as a missionary and bishop in Peru, known as on wealthier nations within the Global North to assist these within the Global South, such because the nations he visited throughout his journey.
“Africa for many people is considered a place to travel to in order to take its minerals,” the pope mentioned. “I say at a global level we must work harder to promote greater justice and equality in the development of these countries in Africa so there is no need to migrate” elsewhere.
During his Africa go to, Leo traveled to 4 nations together with Equatorial Guinea, which is dominated by what’s broadly seen as one of essentially the most repressive regimes on the planet. The pope mentioned that the Holy See’s diplomatic relations with nations with authoritarian leaders just isn’t an approval of them but gives a chance to work “behind the scenes to promote justice, to promote humanitarian causes.” The pope confused to reporters that his go to to Africa had been primarily a “pastoral” one moderately than political.
The pope was additionally questioned about church debates over homosexuality, with Leo reiterating Vatican opposition to formalized blessings of same-sex {couples}, past what Pope Francis dominated in December 2023. Francis opened the chance for same-sex {couples} to obtain casual blessings, but German bishops have been pushing for a extra formal blessing ritual. Leo cited the welcoming strategy pursued by Francis but mentioned homosexuality “is a topic (that) can cause more disunity than unity.” He additionally mentioned the Catholic Church shouldn’t be overly centered on sexual issues.
“We tend to think that when the church is talking about morality that the only issue of morality is sexual,” he mentioned. “And in reality, I believe there are greater and more important issues such as justice, equality, freedom of men and women, freedom of religion that would all take priority before that particular issue.”
The pope’s journey to Africa was the longest of his preach, and his subsequent international go to is scheduled to be in Spain from June 6 to 12.