from Religion Media Centre
Pope Leo has expressed “deep concern” over the war in Iran and the Middle East, warning of “immense tragedy” if violence escalates out of control recent events in the Middle East and Iran. Speaking yesterday at his weekly Angelus address, he said: “Stability and peace are not built with mutual threats, nor with weapons, which sow destruction, pain, and death, but only through a reasonable, authentic, and responsible dialogue… Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I address to the parties involved a heartfelt appeal to assume the moral responsibility to stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss!”
The Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, issued a statement on Twitter / X, saying: “We pray for the State of Israel and for her citizens who right now are being targeted by a barrage of deadly missiles. We pray for those citizens of Iran, who have seen tens of thousands of their people murdered by a regime more dedicated to the destruction of the State of Israel than the welfare of its own people, and who yearn for a new era of freedom. We pray for the success of the forces which stand in defence of our people and who seek to guarantee that peace and stability will reign in our volatile and vulnerable world. We pray for the day when no nation will ever need to raise sword against nation”.
The Muslim World League secretary general, Sheikh Dr Mohammed Al-Issa, who is also chairman of the Organisation of Muslim Scholars, strongly condemned the Iranian aggression against several Arab countries. Based in Saudi Arabia, he described the attacks as a blatant violation of religious values, international laws, and humanitarian norms, and he called on the international community to confront these actions with absolute firmness and resolve.
The World Council of Churches has expressed grave concern at the US–Israeli strikes on Iran and the resulting retaliatory action, calling for an immediate cessation of all military action in the region. In a statement, WCC general secretary Rev Prof Jerry Pillay, said: “This dangerous spiral of violence places millions of civilians at immediate risk, undermines regional and international security, and threatens already fragile economic and social stability across the Middle East”.
Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani, who fled Iran after the Islamic revolution when her brother was murdered, said it was unclear whether the military action complied with international law and warned it would “wreak havoc and bring death and destruction” across the region. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme, she said that it was difficult not to have a glimmer of hope that the regime will end, but there was no obvious or credible alternative ready to take its place: “My concern is that the IRGC will simply find somebody in due course to replace Khamenei and we’ll go back to where we were, but simply under different leadership.”