Pope Leo XIV has delivered his sharpest condemnation yet of the ongoing US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, denouncing what he called a "delusion of omnipotence" among world leaders and issuing a direct plea for negotiations over warfare. Speaking during an evening prayer Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the 70-year-old pontiff — the first American-born pope in history — called on leaders to "stop" and declared: "It is a time for peace. Sit at tables of dialogue and mediation, not at tables where rearmament is planned."

In unusually forceful language, Leo urged an end to what he described as self-worship, the glorification of power, and war itself, warning against "unfair profits" and a world governed by bombs and drones rather than conscience. Though he named neither the United States nor President Donald Trump directly, his message was widely understood as addressed to American officials who have invoked religious language to justify the conflict — including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who recently called on Americans to pray "in the name of Jesus Christ" for military victory in the Middle East. Leo pointedly noted that using faith to sanctify warfare amounted to a profound distortion of religion, stressing that "God does not bless any war, and certainly not one in which bombs are being dropped."

The Mass took place on the same day that the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan — talks that were announced after Leo's remarks had already been scheduled. Among those present in the basilica were the Archbishop of Tehran, Belgian Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu, and a senior US diplomatic representative, Laura Hockla, according to the American Embassy. Leo also drew on letters from children in war zones, which he said described scenes of "terror and inhumanity," to underscore the human cost of the conflict.

The pope's escalating rhetoric marks a significant shift from his early weeks in office, during which he confined himself to quiet appeals for peace and dialogue. His criticism sharpened publicly beginning on Palm Sunday, and he has since emerged as one of the most prominent international voices opposing the war. Leo recalled that the Church similarly opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, invoking the late Pope John Paul II's appeal made just four days before that conflict began. He called on all people of goodwill to pray for peace and to demand that their political leaders bring the war to an end, describing such prayer as a means of "breaking the diabolical cycle of evil."

Leo's intervention carries symbolic as well as moral weight. As an American-born pope criticising an American-led war — and doing so with explicit reference to the religious framing employed by US officials — he occupies a uniquely awkward position for Washington. His words arrive at a moment of mounting international concern over the use of religious justifications for military action, and signal that the Vatican intends to remain an active, critical voice as long as the conflict continues.