In a letter addressed to the pontiff, the aggrieved Iranian families have also asked the Pope to work with his enlightenment, so that no parent anywhere on the planet is forced to hum a lullaby over the cold stone of their child’s grave.
We write this letter to you with trembling hands and hearts filled with pain, and amidst the ashes and ruins of the school in Minab City in southern Iran, they say in the letter, adding, “We are the fathers and mothers of 168 children who, these days, instead of hugging the warm bodies of our children, are clutching their burnt bags and bloody notebooks to our chests; innocent children whose only crime was smiling in the classroom.”
They add in their letter the relief they felt amid the ordeal, saying “when the terrible sound of explosions closed the ears of the world to our cries, the echo of your [the Pope] peaceful words became a balm for our endless wounds.”
Reminding the courageous calls of Leo XIV for world powers to reduce the level of violence and bombings, the families in the letter say that each of words of the Pope was an effort to save children and awaken consciences of the world about rising hatred, violence, and loss of innocent lives.
We are grateful to you for being the voice of righteousness amidst war and reminding us that lasting peace and tranquility are achieved ‘not through force and weapons, but through dialogue,” the letter further says Minab is a bitter truth; the one created by American bombs under the guidance of irrational warmongers.
The parents of the martyred Minab students also tell in their letter that they know their children will never return home to build a better tomorrow, but the figure like the Pope could continue to be the voice of the voiceless children and to work to open all avenues so that no parent anywhere on this planet faces the similar tragedy.
The letter sent to the Islamic Culture and Communications Organization to be delivered to Pope Leo XIV through the Iranian Interfaith Dialogue Policy and Coordination Council.
The US-Israeli bombing of the Minab school sparked global condemnations, with religious leaders, especially Leo XIV, in addition to issuing a declaration and requesting a serious investigation into the crime at the Shajare Tayyiba School in Minab, also took clear stance on the warmongering against Iran.
The Pope called the war a “tragic” thing and stated bluntly that “God rejects the prayers of leaders who wage war and whose hands are stained in blood.” He also criticized the leaders who spend billions of dollars on killing and destruction, referring to the US president, and said that the world is “being destroyed by a handful of tyrants.”
