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ROME — <\/span>Pope Leo XIV demanded a ceasefire in the Middle East on Sunday in his strongest comments to date<\/a>, directly addressing the leaders who launched the war in Iran. <\/p>\n \u201cOn behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict,\u201d Leo said. \u201cCease fire so that avenues for dialogue may be reopened. Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that the people are waiting for.\u201d<\/p>\n Leo didn\u2019t cite the United States or Israel by name in his comments at the end of his Sunday noon blessing. But history\u2019s first U.S. pope mentioned the attacks that targeted a school<\/a>, an apparent reference to the missile strike on an elementary school in Iran in the opening days of the war that killed over 165 people, many of them children.<\/p>\n U.S. officials have said outdated intelligence likely led to the United States launching the strike, and that an investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n The Vatican has highlighted the carnage of the Minab strike, running an aerial photo of the mass grave being dug for the young victims on the March 6 front page of its official newspaper, L\u2019Osservatore Romano, under the headline \u201cThe Face of War.\u201d<\/p>\n Leo said he was close to the families of those who had been killed in the attacks \u201cwhich have hit schools, hospitals and residential centers.\u201d He expressed particular concern about the impact of the war in Lebanon,<\/a> where aid groups are warning of a humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n The plight of Christian communities in southern Lebanon is of particular concern to the Vatican, since they have long represented a bulwark for Christians throughout the majority Muslim region.<\/p>\n For the two weeks since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war, the pope has limited his comments to muted appeals for diplomacy and dialogue in an apparent attempt to avoid pitting himself as an American political counterweight to President Donald Trump. He hasn\u2019t named the U.S. or Israel publicly, but that is also in keeping with the Vatican\u2019s tradition of diplomatic neutrality.<\/p>\n On Friday, for example, in a speech to priests attending a Vatican class on the sacrament of confession, Leo said the sacrament was a workshop that restores unity and peace.<\/p>\n \u201cOne might well ask: do those Christians who bear grave responsibility in armed conflicts have the humility and courage to make a serious examination of conscience and to go to confession?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But while Leo has sought to keep his messaging indirect and apolitical to avoid inflaming tensions, some of his U.S. cardinals and the Vatican secretary of state have not. <\/p>\n Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, said the war was morally unjustifiable.<\/a> Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich said it was \u201csickening\u201d how the White House was splicing video game imagery into its social media messaging about the war.<\/p>\n The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, rejected Washington\u2019s claim of a \u201cpreventive war.\u201d But he said this week that the Holy See was regardless keeping dialogue open.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Holy See speaks with everyone, and when necessary we speak also with the Americans, with the Israelis and show them what to us are the solutions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration<\/a> with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n