A war-ravaged Lebanese Christian community is in mourning the loss of a priest killed amid escalating conflict in the Middle East, spurring Pope Leo XIV to renew his plea for peace in the region. 

Speaking to a general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV remembered Father Pierre El-Rahi, a Maronite parish priest in the Christian village of Al-Qlayaa, Marjayoun district in southern Lebanon, who was killed on Monday during shelling from the Israeli military amid its fight with the militant group Hezbollah along the border with Israel. 

El-Rahi was reportedly among the priests who refused to flee the Christian village after Israeli military orders to evacuate Al-Qlayaa. The pontiff said the deceased spiritual leader was a “true shepherd” who “always remained close to his people with love and the sacrifice of Jesus the Good Shepherd," noting that the church leader lost his life tending to his flock.

The pontiff’s remarks about El-Rahi came on the same day that his funeral took place. 

“As soon as he heard that some of his parishioners had been injured by a bombardment, without any hesitation, he ran to help them,” Leo explained. “May his spilt blood be a seed of peace for Dear Lebanon.” 

The unrest in the Middle East has intensified following the death of Iran’s supreme leader two weeks ago during United States-Israeli airstrikes.

“Let us continue to pray for peace in Iran and in the whole Middle East, in particular, for the many civilian victims, including many innocent children,” he proclaimed. The pontiff expressed hope that the prayer would “be a comfort to those who are suffering” and “a seed of hope for the future.” 

Many Christian families fleeing the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah have taken shelter in Beirut stadiums and schools, Crux reports, which notes that Hezbollah fired rockets at the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona in retaliation for Israeli strikes on localities in Lebanon. 

Lebanon Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi has asked the Vatican for help in advocating for Christian villages in the southern region. Raggi provided details about his phone conversation with Vatican Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See Archbishop Paul Gallagher in an X post.

“We exchanged views on the latest developments in Lebanon and on the difficult situation facing the border villages in the south,” he wrote. 

“I asked the Holy See to intervene and mediate to help preserve the Christian presence in those villages, whose residents have always supported the Lebanese state and its official military institutions, and have never departed from this commitment,” he stated. “Archbishop Gallagher affirmed that the Holy See is making all the necessary diplomatic contacts to halt the escalation in Lebanon and to prevent the displacement of citizens from their lands. He also said that Lebanon has always been, and continues to be, in the prayers of His Holiness the Pope.”

In an X post published Monday, the Lebanese Forces Party, a Christian-based minority party, attributed El-Rahi’s death to “Elements from ‘the Party’” who “infiltrated the town of Al-Qlaia, which led to Israeli airstrikes on it, resulting in the martyrdom” of the late Maronite priest. The post's reference to “the Party” refers to Hezbollah. 

Leo’s remarks on Wednesday are not the first time the pontiff has weighed in on the unrest in the Middle East. Speaking to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on March 1, the day after strikes conducted by the U.S. and Israel led to the death of top Iranian leaders, Leo offered “a heartfelt appeal to the parties involved to assume the moral responsibility to stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss.”

“Stability and peace are not built through mutual threats or through weapons … but only through reasonable, genuine, and responsible dialogue,” he added.

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