Pope Leo XIV says Iran war is not a just war, urges dialogue

Pope Leo XIV used a midair question-and-answer with journalists to make one of his sharpest moral interventions yet on the war in Iran: he said the conflict does not qualify as a “just war” under Catholic teaching. The comment came as the pontiff flew from Rome to Madrid on June 6, the opening leg of a six-day apostolic journey to Spain that is set to take him to Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands.

The trip is Leo’s fourth international journey as pope and will include 12 speeches, four Masses and about ten meetings with political, ecclesial and civic leaders, according to Vatican scheduling. The itinerary also includes a welcome by King Felipe VI, meetings with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and parliament, and a stop in the Canary Islands, a major migrant route that ties the pilgrimage to one of Europe’s most visible humanitarian front lines.

Leo’s comments matter because they go beyond generic calls for peace. In his May 25 encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” he wrote that just-war theory is “now outdated,” arguing that it has too often been used to justify war and warning that lethal decisions should not be left to artificial systems. By rejecting the label in the Iran conflict, Leo is pressing Catholic language into a live political debate over whether modern air war, drones and algorithmic weapons still fit an older moral framework.

The pope has been repeating that message since the fighting began. Vatican reporting says Leo has appealed for dialogue and peace throughout the conflict, framing the Church’s stance as a refusal to bless war even when that stance brings misunderstanding or scorn. His remarks also echo Cardinal Robert McElroy, who said at a peace Mass on April 26 that the war in Iran was “morally illegitimate” and called for a ceasefire.

The backdrop remains volatile. Reuters reported on June 6 that U.S. forces struck Iranian coastal radar sites after drones were launched toward the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring how quickly the war has widened across the region. The conflict began on February 28, according to background reports, and remains entangled in disputed military claims, fragile ceasefire efforts and arguments in Western capitals over how much moral weight religious leaders still carry when they reject the language of just war outright.