Church and UN Call for Peace—Leo XIV says “Aerial Bombings Should Have Been Banned Forever”

During a meeting with Italian airline executives, Pope Leo XIV called for the permanent abolition of aerial bombing. “After the tragic experiences of the 20th century, aerial bombings should have been banned forever … This is not progress; it is regression!” He later said, “No one should have to fear that threats of death and destruction might come from the sky.”

The US-Israeli war against Iran is in its fourth week. Strikes began on February 28 with attacks on Iran. Iran has retaliated by attacking American and Israeli bases as well as installations in nearby countries. One attack by the US resulted in the bombing of an Iranian school and the deaths of approximately150 children and the wounding of 100 more.

UNESCO, the UN agency promoting cooperation in education, science, culture, and communication to foster peace worldwide, called the bombing of the Iranian primary school “a grave violation of humanitarian law.” A number of other UN organizations and senior officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres, condemned the military attacks as well as the retaliatory strikes by Iran.

It was not the first time the pope has called for the end of war. On March 1, during the Sunday Angelus, he called for the “thunderous sound of bombs” to stop and for guns to “fall silent.” The past Sunday, he called the war “a scandal to the whole human family” and urged leaders to “seek solutions without weapons.”

During his weekly break at Casel Gandolfo on Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV released a statement renewing his call for an unconditional ceasefire, saying that “death and pain caused by these wars is a scandal for the entire human family”.

Asked about the pope’s calls for a ceasefire, the American president responded, “We can talk, but I don’t want a ceasefire.”

The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has reaffirmed the Church’s stance, referring to “the foolishness of war.” The cardinal expressed hope that “at least within the holy sites the rituals may still be celebrated [for Easter]. But due to the Israel-American war celebrations of Easter will be limited in the Holy Land this year.

The Cardinal pointed out the irony that Easter is the victim of war. “Easter is the feast of peace, the peace of the Risen Lord …”

Catholic teaching on war holds a theory of “just war.” Such a war is characterized as proportional with a distinction between combatants and civilians, and a reasonable chance of success in pursuit of a just cause. Cardinal McElroy of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, has spoken on this point, stating that intervention in Iran fails to meet several conditions required by the Church’s teaching on just war, including that benefits of this war will not “outweigh the harm which will be done.”