Pope Leo

The Pope would rather talk about the fact that it's okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and I don't think that's very good.

I think he's endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people.

Speaking during a press conference on the Papal Plain as he returned from a trip to countries in Africa, Pope Leo urged leaders to adopt what he called a culture of peace.

Calling negotiations between Iran and the United States complex, he urged all sides to engage in dialogue.

Leo said he carried with him a photograph of a young Muslim Lebanese boy who was killed in Israel's recent attacks against the Iran-backed group Hezbollah there.

The same child had been previously photographed carrying a sign welcoming the Pope when Leo visited Lebanon last year.

When conflicts arise, Pope Leo asked, the question is how to promote the values we believe in without the deaths of so many innocents.

The Pope told reporters that too often the first response to international tensions is violence.

And he encouraged answers that come from, quote, a culture of peace rather than hatred and division.

The Pope said that he carries with him a photo of a Muslim child who waved a sign reading, "'Welcome, Pope Leo,' during his visit to Lebanon last year."

He said he's learned that child was killed during this war with the U.S.

and Israel.

Leo acknowledged that the situation with Iran is complex, but he also said the attacks have caused chaos, affecting the global economy and, quote, Jason DeRose said,

NPR News.

Upon his arrival to the South African nation, the pontiff met with Angola's President João Lourenço.

In an address to government officials, Pope Leo made references to Angola's former civil war, which began shortly after the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975 and went on until 2002.

More than half a million people are believed to have been killed during the fighting.

In his speech, the Pope offered words of encouragement to the Angolan people.

saying that they hold, quote, a joy that not even the most adverse circumstances have been able to extinguish.

Pope Leo's fourth and final leg of his African visit will take him to Equatorial Guinea, a country where more than 70 percent of the population identify as Catholic.