Pope Leo XIV made a fervent plea for peace in the Middle East on Sunday, urging a halt to hostilities in one of his most direct statements yet. In an appeal aimed squarely at the architects of the conflict in Iran, he called for an immediate cessation of violence.

“I urge the leaders responsible for this war, on behalf of the Christians in the Middle East and all people of goodwill,” Leo declared. “Stop the fighting to allow for dialogue. Violence can never bring about the justice, stability, and peace that the people yearn for.”

While Pope Leo refrained from explicitly naming the United States or Israel during his message following the Sunday noon blessing, he alluded to the tragic strikes on a school. This seemed to reference the missile attack on an elementary school in Iran at the war’s outset, which resulted in over 165 casualties, many being children.

American authorities have suggested that the strike was a consequence of outdated intelligence, and they are currently conducting an investigation into the matter.

The Vatican has underscored the devastation from the attack in Minab, featuring an aerial photograph of the mass grave for the young victims on the front page of its newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, with the headline “The Face of War” on March 6.

Pope Leo expressed his solidarity with the families affected by the attacks on “schools, hospitals, and residential centers.” He voiced particular concern for the situation in Lebanon, where aid organizations are warning of an impending humanitarian disaster.

The plight of Christian communities in southern Lebanon is of particular concern to the Vatican, since they have long represented a bulwark for Christians throughout the majority Muslim region.

For the two weeks since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war, the pope has limited his comments to muted appeals for diplomacy and dialogue in an apparent attempt to avoid pitting himself as an American political counterweight to President Donald Trump. He hasn’t named the U.S. or Israel publicly, but that is also in keeping with the Vatican’s tradition of diplomatic neutrality.

On Friday, for example, in a speech to priests attending a Vatican class on the sacrament of confession, Leo said the sacrament was a workshop that restores unity and peace.

“One might well ask: do those Christians who bear grave responsibility in armed conflicts have the humility and courage to make a serious examination of conscience and to go to confession?” he said.

But while Leo has sought to keep his messaging indirect and apolitical to avoid inflaming tensions, some of his U.S. cardinals and the Vatican secretary of state have not.

Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, said the war was morally unjustifiable. Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich said it was “sickening” how the White House was splicing video game imagery into its social media messaging about the war.

The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, rejected Washington’s claim of a “preventive war.” But he said this week that the Holy See was regardless keeping dialogue open.

“The Holy See speaks with everyone, and when necessary we speak also with the Americans, with the Israelis and show them what to us are the solutions,” he said.

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