(OSV News): Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops [USCCB], has echoed Pope Leo XIV’s call for de-escalation and dialogue in the Middle East, following the joint attacks on Iran launched on February by the US and Israel, which killed Iran’s longtime supreme leader, 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The attacks prompted a wave of strikes by Iran across the region, resulting in deaths and casualties on all sides with the Associated Press reporting on March 2 that at least 555 had been killed according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.
In a March 1 statement, Archbishop Coakley warned that the “growing conflict risks spiralling into a wider regional war.”
Noting Pope Leo’s plea for peace in his 1 March Angelus remarks—with the pope warning of an “irreparable abyss” if the violence continues to spiral—the archbishop said, “We are faced with the possibility of a tragedy of immense proportions.”
He added, “My brother bishops and I unite our voice with our Holy Father and make the heartfelt appeal to all parties involved for diplomacy to regain its proper role.” Quoting the pope’s remarks, he said, “We ask for a halt to the spiral of violence, and a return to multilateral diplomatic engagement that seeks to uphold the ‘well-being of peoples, who yearn for peaceful existence founded on justice’.”
The USCCB president stressed that “all nations, international bodies, and partners committed to peace must exert every effort to prevent further escalation.”
Describing the present moment as “critical”, Archbishop Coakley invited “Catholics and all people of goodwill to continue our ardent prayers for peace in the Middle East, for the safety of our troops and the innocent, that leaders may seek dialogue over destruction, and pursue the common good over the tragedy of war.”
His statement contained a link to a June 2025 appeal for prayer and diplomacy by Bishop Elias Zaidan, chairperson of the USCCB’s Committee on International Justice and Peace, after the country had launched precision strikes on several of Iran’s key nuclear facilities.
In that statement, Bishop Zaidan, head of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, had urged “multilateral diplomatic engagement for the attainment of a durable peace between Israel and Iran.”
Archbishop Coakley concluded his statement by imploring “the intercession of our Blessed Mother, Mary, Queen of Peace, to pray for our troubled world and for a lasting peace.”
