Pope Leo says Middle East conflicts strain Jewish-Christian relations

Pope Leo delivers his blessings during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, September 16, 2026. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

VATICAN CITY, Sept 16 - Pope Leo said on Wednesday that recent conflicts in the Middle East had tested relations between Jews and Christians, adding that differing views of the ongoing violence had strained dialogue but not broken it.

In a new decree to mark the Catholic Church's last 60 years of efforts at inter-religious dialogue, the pope also reiterated the Church's condemnations of both antisemitism and Islamophobia.

"The conflicts that have erupted in the Middle East in recent years have ... left their mark on Jewish-Christian dialogue," said the decree, developed by three top Vatican offices and approved by Leo.

"Many channels of communication have been strained," it said. "Nevertheless, the pillars of dialogue among believers, built over 60 years of common effort, have remained firm. Upon these foundations, it is both possible and necessary to continue building."

The decree, issued to mark the anniversary of a 1965 Church document widely credited with improving centuries of acrimony between Jews and Christians, did not mention any specific Middle East conflicts.

Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, has previously criticised the Iran war, drawing the ire of President Donald Trump on social media.

Wednesday's decree described fighting antisemitism as a "shared struggle" for Jews and Christians. It also said attitudes of Islamophobia "fail to distinguish" between cases of extremist violence and the everyday lives of the world's Muslims. REUTERS