ROME – Pope Leo XIV condemned a recent threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to destroy the “whole civilization” of Iran if they don’t agree to a deal to end the current war.

“[A]s we all know, there was this threat against the entire people of Iran. This is not acceptable,” he said, addressing the gaggle of journalists in Italian.

The pope was speaking to reporters April 7 as he left the papal residence in the small Italian town of Castel Gandolfo outside Rome to return to the Vatican.

Leo’s remarks came only hours before Trump announced a two-week ceasefire reportedly brokered by Pakistan, with Iran’s foreign minister announcing the Strait of Hormuz will reopen during the two-week ceasefire period under coordination with Iranian armed forces.

The Strait of Hormuz is a crucial seaway through which as much as a quarter of the world’s energy resources travel daily. It has been blocked almost entirely since the war began.

In his Tuesday remarks to reporters before the announcement, the pontiff reiterated his Easter pleas for peace and insisted that Trump’s threat involves “questions certainly regarding international law, but even more, it is a moral question for the good of the people.”

The pope said many innocent lives are at risk, including those of children, the elderly, and the sick.

“So many innocent people will also be victims of this escalation,” the pontiff said.

Only a few hours after the pope’s pleas, and only two hours before the 8pm EDT deadline Trump had set, the U.S. president announced the two-week halt to U.S. operations against Iran.

“From the first day” of the Iran war, the message has been, “let’s return to dialogue, negotiation. Let’s try to resolve problems without coming to this point, but instead, here we are,” the pope said, saying, “We must pray a lot.”

He invited faithful to pray for peace and also to engage political leaders, saying, “we don’t want war, we want peace. We are people that love peace. There is so much need for peace in the world.”

Asked to repeat his remarks in his native English, Pope Leo repeated his call for an end to the Iran war, “which many have said is an unjust war which is continuing to escalate, which is not resolving anything.”

“In fact, we have a worldwide economic crisis, an energy crisis, a situation in the Middle East of great instability which is only provoking more hatred throughout the world,” he said, and urged leaders to “come back to the table, let’s talk, let’s look for solutions in a peaceful way.”

Pope Leo’s remarks come after United States President Donald Trump posted a shocking threat on social media earlier that day stating that, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iran does not open the Strait of Hormuz and submit to his terms for a ceasefire.

“I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, who knows?” he said.

Trump said the world would “find out tonight” as the Tuesday night deadline for Iran to accept his terms approached, calling it “one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World.”

“47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!” he said.

For over two weeks, Trump has threatened to destroy Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including bridges and power stations, if his demands for a ceasefire amid the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran are not met.

His rhetoric regarding Iran has continually escalated since the U.S. and Israel first launched the war on Iran Feb. 28, which has now morphed into a broader regional conflict as Israel battles Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon.

In a message to the conflict-torn village of Debel in southern Lebanon earlier in the day, Pope Leo conveyed his closeness to all those suffering war, offering his consolation to “all Christians of southern Lebanon and to all people who suffer the consequences of war.”

Signed on the pope’s behalf by the Secretary of State Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the pope’s message was conveyed on Easter day by the apostolic nuncio to Lebanon, Archbishop Paolo Borgia.

“Today we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord. May you, in the midst of feelings of pain, anxiety, and mourning, come to know in your hearts a deeper joy: Jesus has gloriously triumphed over death. It is a joy that comes from heaven and that nothing can take away,” he said.

He urged Christians to remain close to Christ in his own suffering and death in moments of injustice, abandonment, and hardship, saying, “In your misfortune, in the injustice you endure, in the feeling of abandonment you experience, you are very close to Jesus.”

Leo urged the people of Lebanon to “not lose courage,” saying, “No prayer of yours, no gesture of solidarity, no sigh of weariness that you express is lost.”

Trump’s threats to attack Iran’s millennia-old Persian civilization, one of the most influential in human history, were met with widespread criticism, with experts warning that targeting civilian infrastructure was a war crime.

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders have called on the U.S. cabinet to oust Trump over the remarks.

Leo in his comments to the press Tuesday issued a reminder in lieu of Trump’s threat to attack Iran’s civilian areas that “attacks on the civilian infrastructure are against international law, but that it is also a sign of the hatred, the division, the destruction that the human being is capable of, and we all want to work for peace.”

“People want peace,” he said, and urged Christians to always reject war.

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen