• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
Pope Appeals to U.S. and Iran to Pursue Dialogue, Self-Restraint

Pope Appeals to U.S. and Iran to Pursue Dialogue, Self-Restraint

January 9, 2020
Dems Resort To Cringe Theatrics As Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill Rolls Toward Finish Line

Dems Resort To Cringe Theatrics As Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill Rolls Toward Finish Line

July 2, 2025
Mike Johnson Touts ‘Forward Momentum’ As Megabill Vote Put On Ice

Mike Johnson Touts ‘Forward Momentum’ As Megabill Vote Put On Ice

July 2, 2025
Jetsetting Elites Can Now Make Tax-Exempt Donations Directly To Their Favorite Disruptive Eco-Activists

Jetsetting Elites Can Now Make Tax-Exempt Donations Directly To Their Favorite Disruptive Eco-Activists

July 2, 2025
CIA Has Begun Job Cuts

CIA Report Slams Investigation into Russia’s Support of Trump

July 2, 2025
Judge Orders Block on Trump Executive Order Restricting Asylum Access at Southern Border

Judge Orders Block on Trump Executive Order Restricting Asylum Access at Southern Border

July 2, 2025
Military Veteran Pardoned for J6 Gets Life Sentence for FBI Attack Plot

Military Veteran Pardoned for J6 Gets Life Sentence for FBI Attack Plot

July 2, 2025
Intel Suggests Iranian Nuclear Program Set Back ‘One To Two Years’, Pentagon Spox Says

Intel Suggests Iranian Nuclear Program Set Back ‘One To Two Years’, Pentagon Spox Says

July 2, 2025
DAVID BLACKMON: Senate Passage Of The OBBBA Involved High Drama Around IRA Subsidies

DAVID BLACKMON: Senate Passage Of The OBBBA Involved High Drama Around IRA Subsidies

July 2, 2025
Some Liberals Would Apparently Rather Protest Trump Than Celebrate America On July 4

Some Liberals Would Apparently Rather Protest Trump Than Celebrate America On July 4

July 2, 2025
Judge Rules Trump Admin Can’t Block Asylum Claims For Migrants Who Cross Southern Border

Judge Rules Trump Admin Can’t Block Asylum Claims For Migrants Who Cross Southern Border

July 2, 2025
Trump Admin Puts Kibosh On Schools Using Taxpayer Dollars To Indoctrinate Kids

Trump Admin Puts Kibosh On Schools Using Taxpayer Dollars To Indoctrinate Kids

July 2, 2025
Scott Jennings Making Major Career Move

Scott Jennings Making Major Career Move

July 2, 2025
  • Donald Trump
  • State of the Union
  • Elon Musk
  • Tariffs
  • Congress
  • Faith
  • Immigration
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
  • Login
IJR
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls
No Result
View All Result
IJR
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Pope Appeals to U.S. and Iran to Pursue Dialogue, Self-Restraint

by Reuters
January 9, 2020 at 7:13 am
in News
245 7
5
Pope Appeals to U.S. and Iran to Pursue Dialogue, Self-Restraint

Remo Casilli/Pool/Reuters

491
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Pope Francis on Thursday urged the United States and Iran to avoid escalation and pursue “dialogue and self-restraint” to avert a wider conflict in the Middle East.

The pope made his appeal, his first direct comment on the current crisis, in a yearly speech that has come to be known as his “State of the World” address to ambassadors accredited to the Vatican.

Speaking for nearly 50 minutes in the Vatican’s frescoed Sala Regia, the 83-year-old Roman Catholic leader offered a mostly grim overview of 2019, speaking of wars, global warming, xenophobia toward migrants and the danger of nuclear weapons.

“Particularly troubling are the signals coming from the entire region following the heightening of tensions between Iran and the United States,” Francis told the diplomats from more than 180 states.

He said the tensions risked “compromising the gradual process of rebuilding in Iraq, as well as setting the groundwork for a vaster conflict that all of us would want to avert”.

“I therefore renew my appeal that all the interested parties avoid an escalation of the conflict and keep alive the flame of dialogue and self-restraint, in full respect of international law,” he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested Iran was “standing down” after it fired missiles at U.S. forces in Iraq on Wednesday, itself an act of retaliation for the Jan. 3 U.S. strike that killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.

“Our human family is scarred and wounded by a succession of increasingly destructive wars that especially affect the poor and those most vulnerable,” Francis said.

“Sadly, the New Year does not seem to be marked by

encouraging signs, as much as by heightened tensions and acts of violence,” he said.

Recent tensions could likely make it impossible for Francis to visit Iraq, which he has said he would like to do this year.

Wars and conflicts have led to an exodus of Christians from Iraq and some other countries in the Middle East.

Iraq’s small Christian population of several hundred thousand suffered particular hardships when Islamic State controlled large parts of the country, but have recovered freedoms since the jihadists were pushed out.

Iraq is home to many different eastern rite churches, both Catholic and Orthodox.

Francis said he still hoped to make a visit this year to mostly Christian South Sudan, which is emerging from civil war.

The pope wove his speech around the foreign trips he made in 2019, which included a visit to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. There, he became the first pontiff to set foot on the Arabian peninsula, home to Islam’s holiest sites.

Speaking of climate change, he said it was sad that the urgency to tackle it “seems not to have been grasped by international politics”.

He said last December’s U.N. conference in Spain raised “serious concern about the will of the international community to confront” the issue.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Alex Richardson)

Tags: Donald TrumpMiddle EastPope Francis
Share196Tweet123
Reuters

Reuters

Reuters is an international news organization.

Advertisements

Top Stories June 10th
Top Stories June 7th
Top Stories June 6th
Top Stories June 3rd
Top Stories May 30th
Top Stories May 29th
Top Stories May 24th
Top Stories May 23rd
Top Stories May 21st
Top Stories May 17th

Join Over 6M Subscribers

We’re organizing an online community to elevate trusted voices on all sides so that you can be fully informed.





IJR

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Trusted Voices On All Sides

  • About Us
  • GDPR Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Editorial Standards & Corrections Policy
  • Subscribe to IJR

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Top Stories June 10th Top Stories June 7th Top Stories June 6th Top Stories June 3rd Top Stories May 30th Top Stories May 29th Top Stories May 24th Top Stories May 23rd Top Stories May 21st Top Stories May 17th