The Vatican has urged Iran to avoid escalating “in any way” the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, spoke by telephone Monday morning with Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in a conversation that addressed the need for dialogue, negotiation and peace.
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According to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, the cardinal “expressed the serious concern of the Holy See about what is happening in the Middle East, reiterating the need to avoid in any way the expansion of the very serious ongoing conflict and preferring instead the dialogue, negotiation and peace.”
The Vatican Secretary of State’s Aug. 12 phone call to congratulate the Iranian president on the start of his term came as the threat of a retaliatory attack by Iran looms.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East amid reports that Iran could attack within days, The Guardian reported on Monday.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said in a statement on his official website that revenge is “our duty” following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday that it is on high alert for possible retaliation from Iran and its proxies.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have been working to negotiate an agreement to end the war between Israel and Hamas.
Pezeshkian took office in Tehran in late July, after winning the second round of Iran’s presidential election as a reformist candidate who promised to move closer to the West. As president, Pezeshkian is the highest-ranking elected official and second in rank after Iran’s supreme leader, who wields power as commander-in-chief and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran is one of the least Catholic countries in the world. Conversion from Islam to Christianity can be a crime punishable by more than ten years in prison.
The Latin Catholic Archdiocese of Tehran-Isfahan has six parishes and approximately 2,000 Catholics. Bishop Dominique Mathieu He is the current Archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan.
In the last General Audience of Pope Francis, the Holy Father said who followed the situation in the Middle East with great concern.
“I reiterate my call to all parties involved so that the conflict does not expand and there is an immediate ceasefire on all fronts, starting in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is very serious and unsustainable,” Pope Francis said on the 7th. of August.
“I pray that the sincere search for peace extinguishes confrontations, that love overcomes hate and that revenge is disarmed by forgiveness,” he said.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.
Courtney Mares
Courtney Mares is the Vatican correspondent for Catholic News Agency (CNA), EWTN News’ English agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and received the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.