Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in the war involving Iran, delivering his strongest remarks yet on the conflict and urging leaders responsible for the fighting to halt violence after deadly strikes that hit schools and civilian areas.

The Associated Press reported the pope made the remarks at the end of his Sunday noon blessing at the Vatican, where he appealed to leaders involved in the conflict to halt the fighting and pursue dialogue instead of continued military escalation.

"On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict," Leo said. "Cease fire so that avenues for dialogue may be reopened. Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that the people are waiting for."

Leo did not cite the U.S. or Israel by name, though he appeared to reference an attack in the opening days of the war that struck a school in Iran and killed more than 165 people, many of them children.

IRAN WAR, 11 DAYS IN: US CONTROLS SKIES, OIL SURGES AND THE REGION BRACES FOR WHAT’S NEXT

U.S. officials said the strike may have been based on outdated intelligence, and an investigation into the incident is underway.

The pope said he was particularly close to the families of victims killed in attacks that have struck schools, hospitals and residential areas during the conflict.

He also expressed concern about the impact of the fighting in Lebanon, where aid groups have warned the escalating conflict could trigger a humanitarian crisis.

IRAN VOWS 'DECISIVE' SELF DEFENSE AT UN AFTER TRUMP KILLS SUPREME LEADER IN OPERATION EPIC FURY

Christian communities in southern Lebanon are of particular concern to the Vatican, as they have long been seen as an important presence for Christians across a largely Muslim region.

For much of the two weeks since the conflict began, Leo has limited his public comments to broader appeals for peace and dialogue while avoiding direct references to the U.S. or Israel – a stance consistent with the Vatican’s longstanding tradition of diplomatic neutrality.

Some Catholic leaders, however, have taken a more direct stance on the conflict.

RED CROSS SHARES AUDIO OF IRANIAN CIVILIAN EXPLAINING SITUATION ON THE GROUND IN TEHRAN: 'NO RESPITE'

Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, described the war as morally unjustifiable, while Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich criticized the White House for sharing social media posts about the war that included video game-style imagery.

Meanwhile, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin rejected Washington’s characterization of the fighting as a "preventive war," but said the Holy See continues to keep lines of communication open with all sides.

"The Holy See speaks with everyone," Parolin said. "When necessary we speak also with the Americans, with the Israelis and show them what to us are the solutions."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The filibuster, which is in essence a 60-vote threshold to pass legislation in the United States Senate, is a well-intentioned instrument meant to protect the rights of states, markets and individuals from excessive federal law. But it must now be abandoned.

Under the filibuster, the Senate can only act when a piece of legislation is overwhelmingly popular, and in the current case of the Save America Act, which has widespread public support, not even then.

When the Senate abdicates this power, the power doesn’t disappear, rather it is vested in non-governmental institutions that we are meant to trust are working in the interest of the country and its people.

So, for example, without the Save America Act’s limits on mail-in ballots, non-government entities, like Mark Zuckererg and Meta back in 2020, are free to influence elections by offering mail-in ballot assistance, but only in their politically approved areas.

THUNE GUARANTEES VOTER ID BILL TO HIT THE SENATE DESPITE SCHUMER, DEM OPPOSITION: 'WE WILL HAVE A VOTE'

In an age in which we had trusted institutions of education, homeless outreach or monitoring of elections, this might be fine, even admirable. But we do not live in such an age. In our age, far-left progressives have captured almost every institution the Senate willingly hands its power over to.

In the 1720s, England had almost no government-run prisons. Instead, wardensips were purchased, and the warden would profit from prisoner fees.

In 1729, an architect named Robert Castell was thrown into debtors' prison, but could not pay the warden’s fee. He was put in a room with a man who had smallpox, contracted the disease and died.

SEN LEE DARES DEMOCRATS TO REVIVE TALKING FILIBUSTER OVER SAVE ACT, SLAMMING CRITICISM AS ‘PARANOID FANTASY'

Outrage ensued, and even Sir Robert Walpole, arguably England’s first prime minister who far favored indirect management to direct government control of institutions, began to see the need for state-run prisons.

Was the flawed, non-governmental prison system of Georgian England really so different from our own federal government handing millions of dollars to fraudulent day care centers in Minneapolis or no-show hospice care sites in LA?

Even short of fraud, our leading institutions have had incredible negative impacts in areas like the trans movement, where basically every single one of them agreed that children should be subjected to surgery and hormones to change their gender.

DAVID MARCUS: SEN THUNE HAS NO IDEA HOW MAD THE GOP BASE IS AT HIM

It was not until executive orders, state legislatures and the courts stood up to trans madness that the fever began to cool, and now, hospitals are quietly removing those "services."

It was the government, by and of the people, that put in check the shadow government of far-left institutions that nobody ever voted for.

Castell was not the first person to be abused or to die in the very old private English prison system, so why did his case suddenly cause so much furor and eventual change?

REPUBLICANS, TRUMP RUN INTO SENATE ROADBLOCK ON VOTER ID BILL

Well, about 25 years earlier something had arrived on the scene in London called a newspaper, suddenly, not just the literate Londoner, but the man who heard the news read aloud at the coffeehouse or tavern had an immediate window into corruption.

Likewise, 25 years ago, we saw the rise of online news, and suddenly the gatekeepers could no longer hide the evils of the institutions on whose boards they often sat.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Suddenly stories of voter fraud, or detransitioning, or absurd DEI lessons in our schools could not be covered up. The rot at the core of our institutions was laid bare for all to see, just as the cruelty of England’s prisons were 300 years ago.

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE 'TALKING FILIBUSTER' AND THE SAVE ACT

Today, Senate Majority Leader John Thune faces a choice similar to Walpole's in the 18th Century. He would much prefer to keep the federal government out of the lives of Americans, but the institutions that do operate in their lives are broken and corrupt.

While it is the House of Representatives, not the Senate, that is meant to be the vehicle of popular will in our system, that Senate is not meant to be a perpetual roadblock to the will of the people’s house even in the face of massive popular support.

Sadly, that is what the filibuster has become today, an excuse for our legislators to do nothing as non-government institutions continue to firm their grip on American society.

There might have once been a time when the filibuster made sense, but now is not that time. Now is the time for the people’s government to take back power from our broken, far-left institutions.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM DAVID MARCUS