‘Choose peace’: Pope Leo XIV marks first Easter under cloud of war in West Asia

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday (April 5, 2026) urged “those who have the power to unleash wars” to “choose peace” in his first Easter blessing as pontiff with the West Asia conflict raging.

Also read: West Asia war updates on April 5, 2026

Catholics around the world marked the holiday under the shadow of a war that began with U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28 and has drawn in the whole region, convulsing the global economy.

“We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent. Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people,” the Pope told a crowd in St Peter’s Square.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, who was elected in May 2025, also called for a prayer vigil at the Vatican on April 11.

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He paid tribute to his predecessor Pope Francis, who last appeared in public on Easter Sunday last year — a few hours before his death.

Pope Leo has repeatedly called for peace in West Asia and this week he directly urged U.S. President Donald Trump to find an “off-ramp”. On Sunday (April 5, 2026), he spoke of “a world ravaged by wars and marked by a hatred and indifference that make us feel powerless in the face of evil”.

In Lebanon, majority Christian areas in the south of the country are caught in the crossfire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

In Debel, close to the Israeli border, inhabitants marked Easter Sunday against the sound of bombardment around their village, now almost totally cut off from the world and dependent on aid deliveries.

The war has also impacted the lives of Christian minorities in other parts of West Asia.