Pope Francis denounced "warmongering" in a speech at an interfaith conference in Bahrain on Friday.
Mankind is "playing with fire, with missiles and bombs, with weapons that cause tears and death," the head of the Catholic Church said during the summit hosted by the Gulf state.
Although the Pope did not name any states or rulers, he seemed to be referring to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
The aim of the powerful states is to impose "their own despotic, imperialist, nationalist and populist models and visions," the pontiff said.
Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa called for an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine and for serious negotiations to begin.
The Grand Imam of the influential Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Ahmed Mohammed al-Tajjib, also spoke in favour of this.
At the end of the congress, Al-Tayeb also stressed that the so-called "war against infidels" is not part of Islam, which respects freedom of belief and expression. "Even if this is claimed by some followers of the same religion."
Pope Francis and Al-Tayeb met previously in 2019 when the two signed a document promoting Catholic-Muslim fraternity. The trip to Bahrain marks the pope's second visit to a Gulf Arab country.
