Pope Leo XIV met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on the 20th (local time) and pledged support for the implementation of the peace agreement signed with the United States and Israel, the Vatican said.

According to the Vatican, the two leaders focused their meeting on discussing the tripartite framework agreement signed by the United States, Israel, and Lebanon.

The framework agreement, concluded last June, includes plans for Lebanon's pro-Iranian militant group Hezbollah to disarm and the Israeli military to withdraw from southern Lebanon.

Despite the agreement, Hezbollah has been refusing to disarm, arguing that the Lebanese government is making concessions without guaranteeing the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Israel has designated southern Lebanon as a hideout for Hezbollah and is continuing its attacks.

While the Pope expressed satisfaction with the framework agreement, he also voiced serious concern over the difficulties encountered during its implementation, the Vatican reported.

In a message released on the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, the Pope stated, "War is not only a political failure, but also a moral and spiritual failure."

He emphasized, "The true tools for building peace are not weapons of destruction," adding, "War, rooted in distorted desires and the misuse of power, is testimony contrary to the Gospel of peace."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)