The Vatican on Friday urged Israel to end the war with Iran, but it maintains a collaboration between a pontifical university and Ahl al-Bayt University, which sources describe as being linked to the ideological framework of Iran’s ayatollah-led regime.
Pope Leo called on Israeli President Isaac Herzog to bring the war to an end and to “reopen all paths of dialogue”, according to the Vatican.
The conflict began on 28 February, when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, and is now in its fifth week.
Earlier this week, the Pope said that God does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, stressing: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.”
However, Euractiv has learned that the Pontifical Antonianum, a university operating under the authority of the Holy See, entered into a cooperation agreement in 2007 with Ahl al-Bayt University in Tehran, which focuses on Islamic sciences.
A well-informed source close to Vatican affairs told Euractiv that the Pope’s condemnation of war carried out in God’s name appears “inconsistent with cooperation with an institution whose central purpose is the sanctification of war against the West in the name of Allah”.
The source added that the collaboration has not been cancelled despite reports of the Iranian regime’s repression of thousands of anti-government protesters.
Authorities in Tehran have frequently criticised the West, at times portraying it as an adversary of Muslim values.
“This is not a meaningful academic or religious partnership, but rather a propaganda initiative by the Embassy of Iran to the Holy See that, at best, exploits the naivety and weakness of the Church,” the source said.
The Pontifical Antonianum had not responded to Euractiv’s request for comment at the time of publication.