“There is no just war there.” Pope Leo XIV said it to reporters on the flight from Rome to Madrid, asked whether the US-Israeli war on Iran could be called a just war. Vice President JD Vance had invoked the idea while defending Washington’s military actions against Tehran.
The pope said the doctrine dates from centuries ago, “from a time when people could not imagine the weapons and destructive capacities that exist today.” It was the fourth foreign trip of his pontificate.
He landed in Spain on Saturday for a weeklong visit that runs through June 12. King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez welcomed him. No pope had visited Spain in 15 years, since Benedict XVI came for World Youth Day in Madrid in 2011. It is also Leo’s first visit to a major EU country outside Italy.
Migration at the center
Stops include Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands. The Canaries are a main gateway for migrants arriving from West Africa, and the pope is due to meet migrants, aid workers and families of those who died on the Atlantic crossing. Ousseynou Fall, a Senegalese man who survived a deadly boat journey to Gran Canaria in 2020 in which his brother died, is among those expected to welcome him, according to Vatican News. The trip fulfils one Pope Francis had hoped to make before declining health stopped him.
The schedule also includes the first address by a pontiff to Spain’s parliament, a visit to a prison in Catalonia, and a ceremony at Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia marking completion of its Tower of Jesus Christ.
On the plane, Leo also called clergy sexual abuse “an open wound” and promised to keep working against it. He said he plans to meet survivors during the trip. “Unfortunately, it is impossible to receive everyone,” he added.
Friction with Trump
The comments on Iran fit a pattern. The pope has repeatedly called for an end to the war and criticized rhetoric he said could feed escalation. Earlier this year he called President Donald Trump’s threat that “there will be no civilization left in Iran” unacceptable. Trump answered by describing him as “weak and terrible on foreign policy.” Leo said he was not afraid and would keep speaking out against war.
Political leaders in Italy criticized Trump’s remarks and backed the pope’s calls for peace.
Sources
- Pope Leo XIV criticizes US-Israeli war against Iran on first Spain visit in 15 years
- Pope Leo XIV begins Spain visit with focus on migration
