The Pope Leo XIV has asked to reactivate diplomatic channels to advance towards a “just and lasting peace” in Middle East during a telephone conversation held with the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog. According to the Holy See, the pontiff stressed the need to intensify international efforts to end the conflict in the region.
During the dialogue, both parties agreed on the importance of protecting the civilian population and respecting international humanitarian law in the context of the war. The Vatican stressed that the conversation focused on reopening “all possible channels of diplomatic dialogue” at a time of growing tension in the Middle East.
The contact occurs a few days after an incident that generated diplomatic friction, when the Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from celebrating Palm Sunday mass in the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This event provoked an immediate reaction from the Vatican and international criticism.
In response, last Monday the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, summoned the ambassador of Israel to the Holy See to convey his protest over what happened. The controversy led the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to intervene publicly to guarantee the cardinal's access to the temple.
For his part, Herzog noted on his social media that, in addition to the exchange of congratulations for Christian Easter and Jewish Passover, they addressed issues such as the war in Iran and the situation in Lebanon, thus broadening the scope of the conversation beyond the religious incident.
Leo XIV is currently celebrating his first Holy Week as pontiff in the Vatican, where he has intensified his calls against war. In his Holy Thursday homily, the pope denounced that “a humanity on its knees before so many examples of brutality” reflects the failure of peace and called it a “blasphemy” that power is imposed through violence.
