Pope Leo XIV: Don't Get Us Used To War

JAKARTA - Pope Leo XIV called on the world not to understand war because war is a sign of defeat.

"The heart of the Catholic Church was torn apart by screams from various war-torn regions, especially from Ukraine, Iran, Israel and Gaza," Sri Pope said at a weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, June 18, reported by ANTARA from Anadolu.

"Don't let us get used to war! Let us reject the temptation to worship the power of arms," said Pope Leo XIV.

Highlighting the current upgrade of the weapon system in producing increasingly large damage, the Pope expressed concern that "the sophisticated weapons used in modern warfare have the potential to draw us towards barbarism that is worse than in the past".

"War is a form of defeat!" Pope Leo XIV quoted his predecessor, Pope Francis.

55,637 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli genocide aggression in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.

Since June 13, Israel has also launched a large-scale attack on Iran targeting nuclear facilities in a number of Iranian cities and high-ranking military command centers.

Iranian media reported that as of Wednesday, the death toll from Israeli airstrikes in Tehran and other areas had reached 585 people. Meanwhile, another 1,326 people were injured as a result of the attack.

In response to the Israeli attack, the Iranian military launched a ballistic missile on Israel that left 24 people dead and 500 injured.