CT News
March 13, 2026 : Since the first strikes began in the Middle East, the Holy See has continued to call for peace and dialogue while Church leaders speak out about the war.
EWTN News spoke with Israel’s Ambassador to the Holy See, Yaron Sideman, and Church leaders to hear their reactions to the ongoing conflicts.
As tensions continue to rise, the Church is calling for prayer, solidarity, and renewed efforts toward peace.
Pope Leo XIV mourned the martyred priest Father Pierre al-Rahi of Lebanon at the end of his weekly general audience on Wednesday. He said al-Rahi embodied the meaning of his family name, becoming “a true shepherd,” always close to his flock and filled with the love and sacrifice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. He added that the priest rushed without hesitation to help members of his parish as soon as he heard they had been wounded in the shelling. The pope concluded with a prayer for peace in the Middle East, saying: “We ask God to make his shed blood a seed of peace for beloved Lebanon.”
Amid the war engulfing the Middle East, the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land issued a spiritual and humanitarian message expressing the Churches’ deep concern over the situation in the region and reaffirming Christians’ commitment to peace despite the harshness of the circumstances.
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