Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday paid tribute to a Lebanese Maronite priest killed while rushing to aid a wounded parishioner during an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, calling him “a true shepherd” and renewing his appeal for peace across the region.

Father Pierre Al-Rahi was killed on March 9 in the town of Qlayaa after an Israeli strike hit a house where he was tending to an injured parishioner. The tank fire targeted the building, which Israeli forces said was being used by Hezbollah militants. A second strike hit the house as Al-Rahi arrived, inflicting fatal wounds before he could reach a hospital.

“At the end of his life, he always stayed close to his people, with the love and sacrifice of Jesus the Good Shepherd,” Pope Leo said at the close of his March 11 general audience in St. Peter’s Square. “As soon as he heard that some parishioners had been wounded by a bombing, he rushed to help them without hesitation. May the Lord grant that the blood he shed be a seed of peace for beloved Lebanon.”

“May our prayer be a source of comfort to those who suffer and a seed of hope for the future,” he said. “I am close to all the Lebanese people at this time of grave trial.”

Leo visited Lebanon in December during his first international trip, praying that the nation might become a place “where peace and justice reign.”