Emergency personnel work at the site of an Iranian strike, on Sunday, March 1, after Iran launched missile barrages following attacks by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28, 2026, in Beit Shemesh, Israel.\u00a0(OSV News photo\/Ammar Awad, Reuters)<\/p>\n
On Sunday, March 1, during his Sunday Angelus address, Pope Leo XIV spoke about the rising tensions in the Middle East. Delivered from St. Peter’s square in Rome, below are the full remarks from the Holy Father.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday!<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Gospel<\/a> paints a radiant picture for all of us as it recounts the Transfiguration of the Lord (cf.\u00a0Matthew\u00a017:1-9). \u00a0In this depiction, the Evangelist draws on the Apostles\u2019 memories, portraying Christ between Moses and Elijah. \u00a0The Word made flesh stands between the Law and the Prophets: he is living Wisdom, who brings every divine word to fulfillment. \u00a0Everything that God has commanded to and inspired in human beings finds its full and definitive expression in Jesus.<\/p>\n Just as on the day of his baptism in the Jordan, so too today on the mountain we hear the voice of the Father proclaiming, \u201cThis is my beloved Son,\u201d while the Holy Spirit envelops Jesus in a \u201cbright cloud\u201d (Matthew\u00a017:5). \u00a0The Gospel uses this unique expression to describe how God reveals himself. \u00a0When he manifests himself, the Lord makes his abundance visible to our gaze: standing before Jesus, whose face shines \u201clike the sun\u201d and whose clothes become \u201cas white as light\u201d (cf. v. 2), the disciples behold the human splendor of God.\u00a0 Peter, James and John contemplate a humble glory, which is not displayed as a spectacle for the crowds to see, but in solemn intimacy.<\/p>\n The Transfiguration foreshadows the light of Easter: an event of death and resurrection, of darkness and new light that Christ radiates on all bodies scourged by violence, crucified by pain, or abandoned in misery. \u00a0Indeed, while evil reduces our flesh to a commodity or an anonymous mass, this same flesh shines with the glory of God. \u00a0The Redeemer thus transfigures the wounds of history, enlightening our minds and hearts: his revelation is a gift of salvation! \u00a0Does this captivate us? \u00a0Do we see the true face of God with a gaze of wonder and love?<\/p>\n The Father\u2019s reply to the despair of atheism is the gift of his Son, the Savior; the Holy Spirit redeems us from the loneliness of agnosticism by offering us an everlasting communion of life and grace; and in response to our weak faith, the promise of the future resurrection is announced.\u00a0 This is what the disciples saw in Christ\u2019s splendor, but it took time for them to understand (cf.\u00a0Matthew\u00a017:9), time in silence to listen to the word, time for conversion in order to enjoy the Lord\u2019s company.<\/p>\n As we experience this during Lent, let us ask Mary, teacher of prayer and Morning Star, to guide us in faith.<\/p>\n _______________________<\/p>\n \t\t\t After the Angelus\u00a0<\/p>\n Dear brothers and sisters!<\/p>\n I am following with deep concern what is happening in the Middle East and in Iran during this tumultuous time. Stability and peace are not achieved through mutual threats, nor through the use of weapons, which sow destruction, suffering, and death, but only through reasonable, sincere, and responsible dialogue.<\/p>\n Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of immense proportions, I make a heartfelt appeal to all the parties involved to assume the moral responsibility of halting the spiral of violence before it becomes an unbridgeable chasm. May diplomacy regain its proper role, and may the well-being of peoples, who yearn for peaceful existence founded on justice, be upheld. And let us continue to pray for peace.<\/p>\n In these days, troubling news has also arrived of clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan. I urgently appeal for a return to dialogue. Let us pray together that harmony may prevail in all conflicts throughout the world. Only peace, a gift of God, can heal the wounds between peoples.<\/p>\n I wish to express my closeness to those who have been severely affected by flooding in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. I pray for the victims, for the families who have lost their homes, and for all those involved in rescue efforts.<\/p>\n I extend a warm greeting to all of you, Romans and pilgrims from various countries, in particular the group of Cameroonians living in Rome, accompanied by the President of their Episcopal Conference, whom, God willing, I will have the joy of visiting in the month of April.<\/p>\n I welcome the faithful from the Diocese of Ia\u0219i in Romania, from Budimir in Ko\u0161ice, Slovakia, from Massachusetts in the United States of America, and from the Confraternity of the\u00a0Sant\u00edsimo Cristo de la Buena Muerte\u00a0from Ja\u00e9n, Spain.<\/p>\n I greet the faithful from Naples, Torre del Greco, and Afragola; from Caraglio and Valle Grana; from Comitini, Crotone, Silvi Marina, and the parish of Saint Luigi Gonzaga in Rome; as well as the scout leaders of the \u201cVal d\u2019Illasi\u201d group near Verona, and the young people from Faenza who have received the Sacrament of Confirmation.<\/p>\n I wish everyone a happy Sunday.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Editor’s note: Hours after delivering the Sunday Angelus, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, released a statement echoing the sentiments of the pontiff. To read the statement from the USCCB, click here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emergency personnel work at the site of an Iranian strike, on Sunday, March 1, after Iran launched missile…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-317044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}