Israel Conflict – Iran: Cardenal is pronounced on missile attacks

Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu, Latin Archbishop of Tehran-Isfahán, pronounced himself on the attacks of the last hours between Israel and Iran, stating that it is impossible to “achieve peace with preventive attacks, instead of committing to dialogue at the negotiating table.”

In the last hours, the operation Rising Lion De Israel launched more than 200 air attacks against Iranian nuclear and military facilities, killing high controls such as Hossein Salami and Mohammad Bagheri, as well as nuclear scientists.

Iran replied with A series of attacks with ballistic missiles (Several hundred according to Tehran, less than 100 according to Israel) directed against Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The Israeli defense system intercepted most missiles.

“Let us there, therefore, to prevail the peace dialogue around a consensus. That the Holy Spirit guides this process,” said Cardinal Mathieu in a statement offered to Asia News.

The Asian news agency ensures that the purple fears that the escalation is being materialized in the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors, “that threatens to drag all the Middle East to a devastating conflict.”

In May, after participating in the conclave, Cardinal Mathieu told Asia News that among the Iranian Catholics, although they are a minority in the country, “there is a great hope, united to an incredible expectation” by the pontificate of Leo XIV. “We can say that we are full of hope,” he added, referring to the jubilee year.

The Cardinal stressed that, according to his experience during the days, the new Pope has the ability to open many doors, as Pope Francis did, especially with the Muslim world and specifically with the Iranian authorities.

“In the election, says the cardinal, the Holy Spirit has guided us on the right track, because it can be the person capable of doing so,” he said.

“What Iranian Catholics expect from the Pope is to be a man of prayer,” explains the archbishop. A man who knows “to dedicate time” to pray, because in the country and in the region “many things cannot be resolved in the future, if not through prayer.”

Faced with this dramatic moment in the Middle East, Cardinal Mathieu values ​​his work as Archbishop of the Iranian capital, granted by Pope Francis, as “an even broader inclusion attempt.” The Argentine pontiff asked him to do “the task of integrating, including, being in contact with the nation at its different levels.”