Pope Leo condemns Iran’s killing of protesters but says he cannot support war

(CNN) — Pope Leo XIV on Thursday denounced the Iranian regime’s killing of protesters but stressed that, “as a pastor,” he cannot support the US-Israeli war with Iran.

The pope’s remarks, made to reporters on board the papal plane returning from his trip to Africa, follow President Donald Trump’s attacks on the pontiff for his stance on the Middle East conflict.

During an in-flight press conference, the pope also addressed the topic of immigration, saying that in some cases immigrants are being treated “worse than pets.”

The first American pope told CNN last month that he hoped Trump would find an “off-ramp” to end the war in Iran, and he spoke out against justifying conflict on religious grounds. But in the hours before 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 told 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 said the US and Israeli bombing of Iran has created a “chaotic situation for the global economy,” along with “a whole population in Iran, of innocent people, which is suffering because of this war.” Highlighting the human cost of conflict, the pope revealed that he carries a photo of a Lebanese Muslim boy, who had carried a sign welcoming the pontiff to the country at the end of last year and who was killed in the war.

“The question of Iran is evidently very complex,” he told 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 “there is regime change or no regime change,” the emphasis should be on preventing the “death of so many innocents,” Leo said. He cited a letter from the families of school children who died on the first 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 said.

The pope, who alternated between English, Spanish and Italian when answering questions, also criticized the Iranian regime’s killing of protesters in his first remarks on the topic.

Asked if he condemned Tehran’s deadly crackdown on protests in January, Leo said: “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, said. “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 just completed the longest foreign visit since his election last May, also addressed another issue on which he has been at odds with the Trump administration: the treatment 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 said in response to a question about the immigration debate in Spain.

The pope pointed out that countries have “the right to implement rules for their borders.” But he said people should not “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, called on wealthier nations in the Global North to help those in the Global South, such as the countries he visited during his trip.

“Africa for many people is considered a place to travel to in order to take its minerals,” the pope said. “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 visit, Leo traveled to four countries including Equatorial Guinea, which is ruled by what is widely seen as one of the most repressive regimes in the world. The pope said that the Holy See’s diplomatic relations with countries with authoritarian leaders is not an approval of them but offers an opportunity to work “behind the scenes to promote justice, to promote humanitarian causes.” The pope stressed to reporters that his visit to Africa had been primarily a “pastoral” one rather than political.

The pope was also questioned about church debates over homosexuality, with Leo reiterating Vatican opposition to formalized blessings of same-sex couples, beyond what Pope Francis ruled in December 2023. Francis opened the possibility for same-sex couples to receive informal blessings, but German bishops have been pushing for a more formal blessing ritual. Leo cited the welcoming approach pursued by Francis but said homosexuality “is a topic (that) can cause more disunity than unity.” He also said the Catholic Church should not be overly focused on sexual matters.

“We tend to think that when the church is talking about morality that the only issue of morality is sexual,” he said. “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 trip to Africa was the longest of his pontificate, and his next foreign visit is scheduled to be in Spain from June 6 to 12.

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