The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has warned that mounting tensions between Washington and Tehran risk igniting a far wider conflagration across the Middle East.
Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, who leads the US bishops’ conference, said the present crisis carried the potential for “a tragedy of immense proportions” and urged all parties to step back from the brink.
“The growing conflict risks spiralling into a wider regional war,” he said in a statement issued on March 1, echoing the Pope’s Angelus call for restraint. He added that he and his fellow bishops were joining their voices to that of the Pope in making “a heartfelt appeal to all parties involved for diplomacy to regain its proper role”.
