A Maronite priest was killed in an Israeli attack on a Christian village in southern Lebanon.

Father Pierre al-Rahi, along with other priests, defied an Israeli order to leave Qlayaa and chose instead to remain with his parishioners.

Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington said in an interview with his archdiocesan newspaper that “at this present moment, the US decision to go to war against Iran fails to meet the just war threshold for a morally legitimate war in at least three requirements.”

“The criterion of just cause is not met because our country was not responding to an existing or imminent and objectively verifiable attack by Iran,” Cardinal McElroy said on March 9. In addition, “the criterion of right intention is not met in our country’s decision to attack Iran.”

He explained:

One of the most worrying elements of these first days of the war in Iran is that our goals and intentions are absolutely unclear, ranging from the destruction of Iran’s conventional and nuclear weapons potential to the overthrow of its regime to the establishment of a democratic government to unconditional surrender. You cannot satisfy the just war tradition’s criterion of right intention if you do not have a clear intention.

“Finally, our current war effort does not meet Catholic just war teaching because it is far from clear that the benefits of this war will outweigh the harm which will be done,” he said.

The bishop of the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle of San Diego pleaded not guilty on March 9 to charges of embezzlement and money laundering.

Bishop Emmanuel Shaleta was arrested on March 5 at San Diego International Airport while attempting to leave the country.

Pope Leo XIV expressed his “profound sorrow for all the victims of the bombings in these days in the Middle East, for the many innocents, including many children, and for those who were helping them, such as Father Pierre El-Rahi,” according to a statement from the Holy See Press Office.

“He is following what is happening with concern and prays that every hostility may cease as soon as possible,” the statement added.

Father El-Rahi, a Maronite priest, was killed by Israeli tank fire on March 9.

The apostolic vicar of Southern Arabia said in an interview that “our churches remain open and the celebration of the Eucharist continues regularly” in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Bishop Paolo Martinelli, OFM Cap, told the National Catholic Reporter that “there have been several attacks, especially targeting the main cities such as Abu Dhabi and Dubai. However, we must acknowledge that the Emirati defense system has responded effectively, intercepting almost all of them.”

“For this reason, although people are understandably shaken by what is happening in the region, they also feel reassured by the protection provided by the local authorities,” he added. “In general, the life of our communities continues in a regular way, even though some pastoral activities have been adapted to the current circumstances.”

Cardinal Domenico Battaglia of Naples, Italy, penned a scathing denunciation of the “merchants of death” who manufacture and sell weapons.

“To you who do business with the blood of men, to you who count profits while mothers count their children, to you who call ‘strategy’ what the Gospel calls scandal, I address words that are born not from diplomacy, but from the wound,” he wrote in his open letter, published on March 9.

The prelate spoke of a land that “trembles under the steps of the poor, under the cries of children, under the silence of the innocent, under the ferocious noise of the weapons you have built, sold, blessed by your cynicism.”

Pope Leo XIV decried violence against women, in a reply to a letter whose author implored him, “Pope Leo, help us to stop violence against women.”

Women “are a sign of contradiction in this confused, uncertain and violent society, because they point us towards values of faith, freedom, equality, generativity, hope, solidarity and justice,” the Pope wrote in his reply. “Violence, any violence, is the line that divides civilization from barbarism.”

“We must never underestimate an act of violence, and we must not be afraid to denounce violence, including the climate of justification that mitigates or denies responsibility,” he continued. “Walking together in mutual respect for our humanity is not a dream, but the only possible reality for building a world of light for all.”

The exchange was published in Piazza San Pietro, a magazine published under the Vatican basilica’s auspices. Pope Leo has continued his predecessor’s custom of answering one letter in each issue.

The three members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina met with Pope Leo XIV on March 9.

The nation’s leaders then met with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations.

According to a Vatican statement, the parties discussed the “need for inclusive and constructive dialogue in order to ensure the stability of the country and the juridical and social equality of all its constituent peoples,” as well as “peace and security in the Western Balkans and the repercussions of the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina, a Balkan nation of 3.7 million (map), is 50% Christian (40% Orthodox, 10% Catholic) and 46% Muslim. Pope Francis made an apostolic journey to Sarajevo, the nation’s capital, in 2015.

In a message to International Encounter for Peace and Reconciliation at Loyola University Chicago, Pope Leo XIV offered three “principles to keep in mind as you move forward with this noble initiative”:

• “First, true peace is not simply the absence of conflict, but rather is God’s gift.”
• “Second, if we wish to promote concord on a global level, it is necessary to seek the engagement and commitment of the international community for the sake of the common good, which transcends borders, faith traditions and cultures.”
• “Third, true harmony is rooted in the reconciliation that God has brought to us through his only Son, Jesus Christ, by his death and resurrection.”

The international encounter was organized in collaboration with the Pontifical Commission for Latin America as part of the Building Bridges Initiative, launched by Pope Francis in 2022. Pope Leo’s message, dated March 2, was released on March 7.

Cardinal Dominique Mathieu, OFM Conv, the Belgian missionary cardinal archbishop of Tehran, left Iran with Italian embassy staff and arrived in Rome on March 8.

“I arrived in Rome yesterday, not without regret and sorrow for our brothers and sisters in Iran, as part of the complete evacuation of the Italian embassy, ​​[where] the archdiocese [is located],” Cardinal Mathieu told a Belgian news agency on March 9. “Until I return there, pray for the conversion of hearts to inner peace.”