As Trump returns from Middle East with massive arm deals, patriarch says 'no' to weapons

AMMAN, Jordan (OSV News) -- As U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Gulf Arab countries, ending May 16, brought "the largest defense cooperation agreement" Washington has ever done, according to the White House fact sheet, Catholic leadership in the region expressed its concern to resolve long-standing conflicts, particularly in the Middle East, peacefully.

The United States signed agreements with Saudi Arabia to provide nearly $142 billion of air and missile defense systems, air force and space advancement, maritime security and communications. Qatar and the U.S. agreed on a $1.2 trillion "economic exchange," while Saudi Arabia promised to invest $600 billion in the U.S.

American state-of-the-art warfighting equipment such as advanced drones going to Qatar and helicopters to the United Arab Emirates worth billions of dollars are aimed at enhancing both countries' defense capabilities. The Trump visit had also hoped to see traction on diplomatic efforts on both Ukraine and Gaza, where heavy Israeli airstrikes have taken place, killing scores.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, has underscored Pope Leo XIV's appeals for peace and to stop the proliferation of weapons, as the newly installed pontiff has taken up his Petrine ministry.

"This is what distinguishes it on the international scene. The Holy See has no vested interests. Its only interest is the good of the human family," said Cardinal Pizzaballa, in remarks to the Italian newspaper Avvenire.

"If I think of our context, that of the Holy Land, I see the Holy See with a facilitator role. Because no solution can be found without the involvement of multiple actors: from local to international ones," he said.

Both Pope Leo and Cardinal Pizzaballa called attention to the urgency of ending the conflict in Gaza.

"I am deeply saddened by what is happening in the Gaza Strip," Pope Leo said in his first "Regina Coeli" address May 11. "May there be an immediate ceasefire! Let humanitarian aid be provided to the stricken civil population, and let all the hostages be freed," the pope said.

"Now the visit of U.S. President Donald Trump to the Middle East is taking place. I hope that the trip will lead to a change in the war in Gaza and beyond," Cardinal Pizzaballa said.

"The glimmers of hope, however, seem few at the moment. I hope that the end of the war is not so far away," because "if it were to continue, it would be a tragedy from a humanitarian point of view, in addition to being a completely morally unacceptable fact," Cardinal Pizzaballa told Avvenire, adding that the situation in the enclave is beyond dramatic.

"Food is scarce. Women, men, families no longer know how to make it to the evening. Children are abandoned to themselves and have no opportunity for education. Practically the entire population is displaced. The bombings sow death and destruction. And they add victims to the thousands of victims that have already occurred," he said.

The Israeli military has been preparing for a major offensive in the Gaza Strip, which officials said would be launched if no hostage deal is reached with Hamas by the end of Trump's visit to the region May 13-16, as reported by The Times of Israel.

One in five people in Gaza face starvation, a U.N.-backed report warned, as Israel's months-long blockade of humanitarian aid continues. Gaza's entire population of 2.1 million is experiencing "high levels of acute food security" and is at "high risk" of famine, the most severe type of hunger crisis, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report noted.

The World Health Organization called the situation in which food and medical supplies have been stopped "one of the world's worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time."

Both Pope Francis and Pope Leo spoke of "martyr" churches in war zones and Pope Leo thanked Christians who do not abandon difficult lands, such as the Middle East, during his first addresses as pope.

"Visiting the parishes of the patriarchate, I certainly notice tiredness, but also a lot of commitment and desire to move forward," Cardinal Pizzaballa said.

Meanwhile, U.S. religious freedom advocates have expressed some concerns about Trump's announcement of the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria.

Nadine Maenza, president of the Washington-based International Religious Freedom Secretariat, told OSV News that "while many have argued for keeping sanctions as leverage, the reality on the ground has made that difficult."

"The economic situation is so dire -- people are literally facing starvation -- that maintaining that stance has become increasingly difficult to justify," Maenza said.

"We as the Middle East working group of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable and our other allies were certainly hoping that any lifting of Syria's sanctions would be conditional upon the recommendations that our State Department has been making," international lawyer Lauren Homer told OSV News.

"This means (Syrian President Ahmad) al-Sharaa's regime must implement a constitution that gives people rights to all citizens and that has a meaningful democratic process, instead of the autocracy that he has decreed," said Homer, the Middle East chair of the IRF Roundtable, which is convened by the IRF Secretariat. The roundtable advocates for religious freedom for all people.

Trump met al-Sharaa on May 14 in Saudi Arabia, the first encounter between the two nations’ leaders in 25 years.

"We are also gravely concerned about the rights of the various religious and ethnic minorities which are not protected right now by any Syrian laws, as al-Sharaa has dissolved all Syrian laws. We hope that Trump is not planning to lift sanctions," despite initial declarations, Homer said.

Other experts say the lifting of sanctions on Syria will not only take time, but will likely require U.S. congressional approval, while the process is unclear as some sanctions were first imposed 47 years ago on Syria due to autocratic rule by the Assad family as well as the civil war that began in 2011.