On March 1 in his monthly prayer intention and address at St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo solemnly expressed his “deep concern” over “what is happening in the Middle East and in Iran during this tumultuous time.” “Stability and peace,” he reassured his audience, “are not achieved through mutual threats, nor through the use of weapons, which sow destruction, suffering, and death.” Rather, they are achieved “only through reasonable, sincere, and responsible dialogue.”
The pontiff was reiterating what he had asserted in early January when addressing the Vatican’s diplomatic corps. “A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties,” he declared, “is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force.” As a result, war is “back in vogue,” “a zeal for war is spreading,” and “[p]eace is no longer sought as a gift and a desirable good in itself.” Such a scenario, Leo concluded, “gravely threatens the rule of law, which is the foundation of all peaceful civil coexistence.”
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