Leo prays that US-Iran ceasefire might be ‘true solution to war’

According to US officials, the provisional agreement includes a halt to fighting in Lebanon – where Israel has refused to observe previous ceasefires – as well as measures to restrict Iran’s nuclear programme and reopen the Straits of Hormuz.

Pope Leo welcomed the prospect of a ceasefire between the United States after Iran after they announced an agreement to negotiate an end to their war.

“I express my gratitude to the countries that have worked to facilitate the meeting between the parties and make this agreement possible,” the Pope said at his general audience on Wednesday, welcoming the agreement “as an encouraging outcome of patient dialogue and negotiation.”

“I hope that this agreement may help to strengthen mutual trust, security and stability in the Middle East, by promoting paths of dialogue and cooperation among peoples,” he said.

On Tuesday, the US government announced that it had agreed a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran, which would halt fighting in the Middle East that began with strikes on Tehran on 28 February, ahead of a negotiated peace deal.

Speaking to reporters as he left Castel Gandolfo to return to the Vatican on Tuesday, Pope Leo said the Church “always asks for peace, asks for negotiation”.

“Thank God, there is at least this memorandum,” he said. “There are still several points to be established, but it is always better to do so through dialogue, through negotiation, rather than returning to war.”

According to US officials, the provisional agreement includes a halt to fighting in Lebanon – where Israel has refused to observe previous ceasefires – as well as measures to restrict Iran’s nuclear programme and reopen the Straits of Hormuz.

Both US President Donald Trump and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian had signed the memorandum by Wednesday, according to report, giving both sides 60 days to negotiate a full peace agreement to be subject to endorsement from the UN Security Council.

In his remarks on Tuesday, Pope Leo said he hoped it might be “truly a solution to the war” and allow all parties to “eliminate nuclear weapons [and] seek the good of all peoples, seek how to solve the problems also at the economic and social level that have been created in this time”.

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