Pope Leo holds peace vigil as US, Iran negotiate an end to the war

Pope Leo XIV held a prayer vigil for world peace, appealing to world leaders to choose dialogue over war on the same day that U.S. and Iranian leaders met to negotiate an end to the conflict.

"To them we cry out," Pope Leo said during the April 11 vigil, according to the Vatican News service, "Stop! It is time for peace! Sit at the table of dialogue and mediation, not at the table where rearmament is planned and deadly actions are decided!" 

The leader of the Catholic Church spoke as Vice President JD Vance and Iranian negotiators met for peace talks in Pakistan, which hosted the historic face-to-face meetings. U.S. and Iranian leaders had not met since before the 1979 Iranian revolution.

The pope had called for a vigil hours after after President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran. The American-born pope, who has been an outspoken critic of the war, asked the world to join him in "this moment of delicate diplomacy with prayer."

During the vigil, Pope Leo called on the faithful and people around the world "to reject war, not only in word, but in deed," according to the Vatican News service.

At least 13 U.S. service members have been killed and hundreds injured in the war, which began when the U.S. and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran in late February. A top Iranian medical official cited by FOX Newssaid more than 3,000 people had been in killed in Iran.