Middle East

A plan for Pope Leo XIV to visit Lebanon as well as Turkey in late November and early December is being studied, a Vatican official said.

Amid the Israel-Hamas war in the nearby Gaza Strip, one Catholic-run orphanage in Bethlehem offers a refuge of love and stability.

 The parish priest of Gaza’s Christian community admitted his small flock is exhausted by war and a severe lack of food.

Pope Leo XIV called on everyone to root out false narratives being used to fuel today’s wars, conflict and violence.

Christians in Syria are reeling after a suicide bombing struck a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus during a June 22 Divine Liturgy.

The U.S. has attacked three nuclear facilities in Iran, a move that comes amid repeated pleas from Pope Leo XIV and other church leaders for peace and dialogue.

After the U.S. bombed three nuclear-enrichment facilities in Iran, Pope Leo XIV called the situation “alarming” and said diplomacy was the only way forward.

Pope Leo XIV appealed for restraint and renewed the church’s calls for nuclear disarmament and peaceful dialogue.

As Israel continued its airstrikes on nuclear sites in Iran, and Iran launched drones to retaliate, Pope Leo XIV welcomed Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the Vatican.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican’s top diplomat met with papal representatives to various Middle Eastern countries to discuss possible avenues toward peace in the region and the state of …