Pope Leo slams 'those who manipulate religion' for war, as White House invokes divine calling
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday issued what may be his most explicit condemnation yet of the Trump administration's use of biblical invocations to justify the US-Israeli war on Iran, as tensions between the Vatican and the White House ramp up.
"Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth," Pope Leo wrote on X, citing his own remarks on a visit to Cameroon.
"The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants," he said in his speech.
At almost the exact same time in Washington, DC, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was lecturing the press corps on Thursday by comparing them to Pharisees in the Bible - believed by Christians to be those who witnessed first-hand the miracles performed by Jesus Christ, yet chose not to believe.
The miracles in this case are presumably meant to be the US military's achievements in the seven-week war, which has killed more than 3,000 Iranians.
Hegseth has repeatedly invoked God at his Pentagon briefings, insisting that the war is part of a divine mission for the US.
That did not sit well with Pope Leo, who has advocated against war in general. Pope Leo is the first American leader of the Catholic Church.
His position would normally be considered an unremarkable one for the Vatican. But US President Donald Trump has lambasted the American pope for going against what he says are US interests.
"I have to do what's right. The pope has to understand that. Very simple, I have nothing against the Pope. His brother is Maga all the way," Trump told reporters on Thursday after a nearly week-long tit-for-tat between the two leaders.
The Pontiff's brother, Louis Prevost, voted for Trump and supports the Make America Great Again movement.
"I'm not fighting with him," Trump insisted to reporters.
"The pope made a statement. He says Iran can have a nuclear weapon."
Pope Leo did not weigh in on US allegations that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.
'Weak on crime'
Earlier this week, Trump's feud with Pope Leo appeared to have led the US president to declare himself Jesus Christ in an AI-generated image on Sunday, which drew so much backlash that he deleted it by Monday.
"I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with the Red Cross," Trump later told reporters at the White House.
"It's supposed to be me as a doctor making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better," he said.
But the image was widely seen as unmistakable.
Trump is shown in a robe, with glowing hands and his palm hovering above the forehead of a man shown lying in a bed with his eyes closed.
Shortly before Trump shared the image, he went on a tirade attacking Pope Leo and seemingly tried to drive a wedge between him and his brother.
"Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy. He talks about 'fear' of the Trump Administration, but doesn't mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart. I like his brother Louis much better than I like him," Trump wrote.
"I don't want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States."
Pope Leo had previously also spoken out against the Israeli war on Lebanon, and Trump's crackdown on "illegal" immigrants inside the US.
The Catholic Church, on the whole, appears to agree with the pope, and that has created tensions between Catholics and Evangelical Christians, who form the Trump support base.
Several cardinals who spoke to the CBS programme "60 Minutes" on Sunday condemned the president's warpath.
And on Saturday, the archbishop of Washington, DC, Cardinal Robert McElroy, openly called for Christians to "move beyond prayer" to quell injustice.
"As citizens and believers in this democracy that we cherish so deeply, we must advocate for peace with our representatives and leaders. It is not enough to say we have prayed. We must also act... our president will move to re-enter this immoral war," he said at a mass for peace.
"No. Not in our name. Not at this moment. Not with our country."
This article was sourced from Middle East Eye.
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