Leadership Statement on Iran Conflict
March 3, 2026
The Leadership Team of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace condemns any use of violence and warmaking, especially as a way of resolving conflicts and disagreement. In our 2008 Chapter Commitment, our Congregation recognized that, “We live in a society marked strongly by the violence of war, violence to people through poverty and a sense of powerlessness and alienation, violence to earth, sea, and sky – violence that is truly cosmic. In response we commit ourselves to grow more deeply toward a nonviolent way of being and acting as peacemakers.” Indeed, in 2014, in honoring Italians killed in World War I, Pope Francis decried war, saying, “Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction.”
On February 28, the US and Israeli military launched a series of coordinated bombings of different cities and regions of Iran resulting in the death and serious injury of political officials, military personnel, and civilians, including Iranian school children. Iran launched reciprocal strikes on military and civilian targets in surrounding regions.
Recognizing that violence is an action that never yields healing and reconciliation, we are obligated to name the evil that accompanies war and violence. The wounds that are opened in warfare are not only physical, but also have the capability to destroy communities, families, and corrupt the spirits of all people engaged in warfare - from soldiers, to decisionmakers, to women and children and the elderly who are viewed as collateral damage.
Recognizing the complexity of geopolitics, the call of Christ and the Gospel remains: love our enemies and, when appropriate, resist them using nonviolent means. Jesus refused to use violence to respond to the injustice of Roman imperialism. Disciples and followers of Christ continued in this tradition, choosing to love God through disciplined restraint against their neighbor. Our Congregation echoes this ancient tradition of Christian love, affirming God’s desire for humanity to be a people of peace, no matter creed, nationality, or any other identity or group.
From its inception, our Congregation has been clear: “The object of this Institute is, as its name implies, to promote the peace of the Church both by word and work. The very name Sisters of Peace will, it is hoped, even of itself, inspire the desire of peace and a love for it.”
This Lent, we have been called by Pope Leo XIV to listen to the Word of God and seek conversion from our old ways. Our Congregation calls for prayer for the victims and perpetrators of war. We decry the unilateral and unprovoked attacks against Iran by the US and Israel. These kinds of actions have become all too frequent recently and undermine the spirit of finding diplomatic solutions to global conflict God values the life of every creature and holds in special regard the lives of humanity. We call on the leaders who willingly destroy human life toward conversion, toward a softened heart who feels compassion for the suffering, and toward treating all people with respect and dignity as part of God’s creation. We request all people of goodwill to stand in nonviolent opposition to the death and destruction that is being carried out by decisionmakers and those with power. We pray that the cry of the poor and vulnerable, the cry of God, is heard by all and war violence can be set aside so that peace and justice might reign.
Media
Catholic sisters call U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran illegal, immoral | Global Sisters Report