As the scourge of war spreads across the Middle East, including Lebanon, the ones paying the ultimate price are the innocent men, women and children who want to live in peace, said Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop Georges Iskandar of Tyre.

From Algeria to Angola, Church leaders across Africa expressed profound joy and hopes that the upcoming apostolic trip would bring much needed change to regions needing reconciliation and social stability, and dialogue to those who live interreligious relations daily.

President Donald Trump’s decision to initiate major combat operations against Iran in concert with Israel has raised debate within Congress over its war powers prerogatives. It has also raised questions about the justice of committing the U.S. into a new Middle East war.

As the United States and Israel continued their campaign against Iran and the newest war continued to spread across the Middle East, bishops and Christian leaders appealed for peace before the conflict escalates any further, with the Catholic Church’s humanitarian giant Caritas saying it “unequivocally” condemns the attacks which would “destabilize” the region.

Catholics across the Middle East are reeling with shock and sorrow, and responding with prayer, amid joint strikes Israeli and U.S. forces launched on Iran Feb. 28.

Life is a journey that requires trust and reliance on Jesus, who sometimes asks his disciples to leave everything behind, Pope Leo XIV said.

Pope Leo XIV issued a fervent appeal for return of diplomacy in “these dramatic hours” in the Middle East and Iran, condemning use of weapons that cause “destruction, pain, and death.”

The leader of the U.S. Catholic bishops has echoed Pope Leo XIV’s call for deescalation and dialogue in the Middle East, following the joint attacks on Iran launched Feb. 28 by the U.S. and Israel, which killed Iran’s longtime supreme leader, 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

As the first Lenten retreat of his pontificate drew to a close, Pope Leo XIV thanked Norwegian Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim for “a profound, spiritual experience” after which, the pope said, he felt “particularly invited to reflect at certain moments.”

About 100 people gathered on the campus of the University of Notre Dame Feb. 27 for an early evening event that organizers had been calling their “March on the Dome” just the day before.