Pope Leo XIV accepts resignation of Iraqi Cardinal Louis Sako March 10, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, Vatican, World News Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Louis Sako, the Iraq-based Chaldean Catholic patriarch of Baghdad, ending his 13-year tenure leading Iraq’s largest Christian denomination, the Vatican said.
Cardinal Mathieu in Rome after evacuation from Iran March 10, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News Belgian Cardinal Dominique Mathieu of Tehran-Isfahan surfaced in Rome after days of uncertainty about his whereabouts following the start of a U.S. and Israel-Iran war.
White House ‘gamifying’ war on Iran marks a ‘moral crisis,’ warns US cardinal March 10, 2026By Gina Christian OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News An American cardinal has issued “a call to conscience,” while deploring efforts to “gamify” the U.S.-Israel war with Iran — particularly on the part of the Trump administration.
Lebanese Maronite Catholic priest killed by Israeli tank fire in southern Lebanon March 9, 2026By Dale Gavlak OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News A Lebanese Maronite Catholic priest has been killed in southern Lebanon when an Israeli artillery tank fired on a house March 9, Catholic officials and media said — reports that have since been confirmed by OSV News.
Pope urges peace, warns about wider Middle East conflict March 9, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, Vatican, World News Pope Leo XIV called for an end to the war in Iran and warned that the conflict could drag more countries in the Middle East into instability.
As Middle East chaos grows, Jerusalem abbey becomes refuge for prayer, interfaith solidarity March 6, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News Amid the escalating chaos of another war in the Middle East, Benedictine Father Nikodemus Schnabel said the abbey where he resides has become an “island of hope in an ocean of suffering” where even people of different faiths have found refuge.
Lebanon’s Eastern Catholic patriarchs, bishops call for ‘spiral of violence’ to end March 5, 2026By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News The Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon issued a statement March 5 in which they called “for an immediate halt to the spiral of violence” currently taking place in the Middle East and urged “a return to constructive dialogue and responsible diplomatic action, grounded in the pursuit of the common good of peoples who long for a peaceful life founded on justice and dignity.”
Iran’s exiled Christians watch events unfolding across Middle East with hope, fear March 5, 2026By Jonathan Luxmoore OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, Religious Freedom, World News As conflict flares across the Middle East following U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, the country’s exiled Christians remain deeply anxious about the future.
Catholic sisters to host livestream prayer for peace as violence continues in Iran, Middle East March 5, 2026By Courtney Mares OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Consecrated Life, Feature, News, World News Catholic sisters from around the world are inviting people to join a livestreamed prayer for peace March 6 amid ongoing violence related to the U.S. and Israel-Iran war.
Drone strike on Iraqi Catholic church complex reopens old wounds March 5, 2026By Dale Gavlak OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News The Catholic community in northern Iraq has been shaken by the attack of an explosive drone hitting the Chaldean Catholic complex in Ankawa, outside of Irbil.
Cardinal Parolin questions whether missiles, bombs are solution to Iranian people’s aspirations March 4, 2026By Courtney Mares OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, Vatican, World News The Vatican secretary of state appealed for peace and diplomacy on the fifth day of the U.S. and Israel-Iran war, warning that recognition of any country’s right to wage “preventive war” according to their own criteria would risk the world “being set ablaze.”
Prayer, unity essential as conflict spreads to Gulf States, says apostolic vicar of region March 4, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News The apostolic vicar of Southern Arabia warned that the current military escalation in the Persian Gulf amid the U.S. and Israel-Iran war is a conflict with “ancient roots” that poses a serious threat to the Middle East and the wider world.
