Catholic leaders expressed cautious optimism about an end to the conflict in the Middle East after members of the Trump administration and Iranian officials signed a memorandum of understanding, a tentative framework to end the war in Iran.
A memorandum of understanding is a formal yet legally non-binding agreement. U.S. and Iranian officials signed the MOU remotely. President Donald Trump signed the agreement June 17 at the Palace of Versailles during a dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron while attending the G7 summit in France.
The MOU is not in and of itself a final deal to end the war, but it calls for a final deal within a 60-day window, “extendable with mutual consent.”
The document called for “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” as well as efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route.
The closure of the strait has led to a significant global spike in energy costs, which is among the factors driving opposition to the conflict among most U.S. adults, polls show. The U.S. and other countries have drained their strategic oil reserves to historic lows in order to cushion the economic blow. Trump stated at the G7 summit that they would “run out of reserves at about four weeks” without a deal, and the consequences globally would be “bedlam.”
The document also states the U.S. “undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” which was among the parts of the agreement that were met with concern from some Congressional lawmakers, including some of Trump’s fellow Republicans.
In comments June 16 to journalists in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, as news emerged of the MOU, Pope Leo XIV said he welcomed dialogue between the U.S. and Iran.
“There will still be several points to settle, but it is always better to do so through dialogue, through negotiations, and not by returning to war,” he said.
In the months leading up to the MOU, the first U.S.-born pontiff opposed the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran as unjust, and called for a return to diplomacy. Trump lashed out repeatedly at Pope Leo, claiming he supported Iran having nuclear weapons; however, the pope never made any such statement. Pope Leo has consistently called for the rejection of nuclear weapons, and for peace and dialogue in the region.
In a June 18 post on X, Pope Leo wrote, “I would like to appeal once again for reflection on the consequences of war and for their prevention through wise and responsible decision making, for this is not the result of an inevitable fate, but of free choices and, therefore, of morally accountable actions.”
Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, echoed Pope Leo’s hopes and said in a June 19 statement, “I commend President Trump and President Pezeshkian for taking the vitally important step of signing a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending hostilities between the United States and Iran and advancing deeper dialogue for lasting peace in the region.”
He said, “Preventing further proliferation of nuclear weapons is critically important for avoiding a dangerous escalation of conflict in the Middle East.”
Vice President JD Vance said at a June 18 press briefing at the White House that the MOU is “a win-win situation for the United States of America.”
“If the Iranians don’t change their behavior, their military and their nuclear program is still destroyed. If they do change their behavior, then they are going to have a transformative relationship with the Middle East, and the Middle East will have a transformative relationship with the people of Iran,” Vance said. “That’s a win for the American people and for the president of the United States, regardless of which option the Iranians ultimately choose. We obviously want them to choose the right option.”
In written comments shared with OSV News, Mary Ellen O’Connell, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who specializes in international law and conflict resolution, said, “even in this preliminary form,” the MOU “demonstrates the folly of unlawful war.”
“The MOU reflects the high price the U.S. is willing to pay to reverse the violation of the United Nations Charter committed together with Israel on February 28,” she said. “The MOU reflects Iran’s demands more than the U.S.’s war goals. There is nothing, for example, requiring the Iranian authorities to hold elections or in any way promote the rule of law and respect for human rights. There is no hint the government will be anything other than the successors of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. President Trump declared he would crush that regime.”
O’Connell noted the MOU also “promises respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon.”
“It is Israel that is directly violating Lebanon’s sovereign rights,” she said. “But the U.S. has made the promise, which may mean it will take the steps to get Israeli compliance. This was another Iranian demand.”
Israel and Hezbollah reportedly agreed to renew a ceasefire on June 19, after fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the militant group, considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., stalled U.S. and Iranian negotiations. Israeli strikes June 18 killed 47 people in Lebanon as well as four Israeli soldiers, the BBC reported. A number of Israeli Cabinet officials called for Israel’s military, which currently occupies 20 percent of Lebanon’s territory, to inflict grave consequences on the country for the deaths of those soldiers.
In response to a question about Israeli concerns about the MOU, Vance said Trump is “the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time.”
Vance also pointed out that the U.S. provided “two-thirds” of the weapons used to defend Israel during the war. He added, “If I was in the Cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”
O’Connell also noted the MOU’s framework for peace also states Iranian frozen assets, which the U.S. began to freeze in 1979, will be made available.
“They began to be released under the Obama Administration after the 2015 Nuclear Deal,” she noted. “Trump unlawfully terminated that agreement and halted asset transfers. Now those transfers are on again.”
“The assets and other parts of the plan bode well for peace,” she said. “Getting Israel on board, adding human rights protections for Iranians, and negotiating the complex future of Iran’s nuclear program, the administration of the Straits of Hormuz, rebuilding, etc. will be tall orders. Regardless, even now, the MOU is a testament against war.”
In his statement, Bishop Zaidan also called on the U.S., Iran, and Israel “to now also prioritize an end to the fighting in Lebanon.”
He said, “The disarming of Hezbollah is necessary for peace and development in Lebanon. Over one million people have been internally displaced, including 400,000 children, and thousands have fled to neighboring Syria, potentially adding to the region’s instability. If the fighting and humanitarian catastrophe continue in Lebanon, I fear that peace across the wider Middle East will remain unreachable.”
Bishop Zaidan invited people to pray the Holy Spirit “breathe wisdom, compassion, and perseverance into the minds and hearts of the negotiators, so that peace in the region may finally become a reality.”
