Although he did not mention any leaders by name, it is pretty clear who was the main intended recipient of his message and that he is fed up with the bogus and self-serving religiosity of Trump and Hegseth.
Pope Leo XIV stepped into the international political arena at evening prayers in St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City on Saturday, saying prayer for peace is “a bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive.”
The first US-born pope said: “Even the holy Name of God, the God of life, is being dragged into discourses of death.”
Addressing world leaders who decide to go to war, Leo said: “To them we cry out: stop! It is time for peace! Sit at the table of dialogue and mediation – not at the table where rearmament is planned and deadly actions are decided.”
“Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life,” he added.
While the pope did not explicitly mention the US-Israeli war with Iran, or name any single country or president, his words will be read as his strongest condemnation yet of a conflict the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth has cast as a sacred struggle. The pope’s remarks came during face-to-face negotiations between US and Iranian delegations in Pakistan to shore up a fragile truce and put a permanent end to hostilities.
Meanwhile, the archbishop of Washington, a close ally of the pope, has condemned what he called an “immoral war” and called on Catholics to take action to stop it.
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. For it is very possible that the negotiations will fail because of recalcitrance on both sides, and the president will move to re-enter this immoral war.
At that critical juncture, as disciples of Jesus Christ called to be peacemakers in the world, we must answer vocally and in unison: ‘No. Not in our name. Not at this moment. Not with our country.’
We can start the countdown to Trump issuing an angry social media post accusing the pope of being low IQ and sufferer of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Has Hegseth already called Leo to be led astray by Satan?
Sorry, I meant “… to have been led away by Satan”.
I’m just waiting for Vance to be excommunicated. Isn’t the adoration of false gods like Drump heresy?
This seems like a recipe for trouble for Republicans -- a divide along religious lines. If Vance really is as Catholic as he says, the Pope’s comments have got to be a conflict with Hegseth and a lot of the rest of the administration.
Snopes: Did Pentagon threaten Pope Leo XIV and Vatican? Facts behind the claim
There is a good chance this plays into it. Senior Catholic figures mostly stay out of national politics but directly threatening the Vatican would probably be grounds for doing more. Still only thoughts and prayers but they are much more pointed and directed then usual. That is considered aggressive action by the Vatican when getting involved in international politics.
It probably also plays into the Pope speaking out that Hegseth is very close to declaring the situation a holy war. Hegseth isn’t Catholic but the Popes tend to consider themselves speaking for Christianity. This is self serving religious principle even though he is right about this war.
Hegseth might reply by dismissing the Pope as merely ‘The Bishop of Rome’ a classic Protestant rhetorical gambit. In their view, the Pope has no authority beyond Rome.
When the catholic church is the voice of moral clarity in any conversation things are going really, really badly.
The Pope also said: ‘God does not bless any conflict’, which suggests the Pope knows absolutely nothing of religious history.
However, he certainly hit a bullseye with that “idolatry of self and money!” crack.
Related.
Good news. The template for Trump, Bolsonaro, Farage and the other far-right populists has lost the Hungarian election. May he and his minions end up in prison.
Well, as an atheist, I can actually agree that God does not bless any conflict, because God is make-believe, and a make-believe being can’t actually bless anything, or do anything else.
But it’s also true that people have, in the past, made-believe that God blessed the conflict that they wanted to win, or had already won and wanted to justify ex post facto.
I suspect that Pope Leo knows his religious history pretty well, and chose his wording carefully.
Which won’t stop in our lifetime, if ever. Neither will greed and war and religion. Catholicism though, like humanity, will eventually evolve into something else, if we don’t go extinct.
(Comment # 3)
Trump drags Pope Leo for being ‘liberal,’ weak on crime | NewsNation Prime
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=rvOlLvFCJPE
I did not know the Pope was a liberal. Or a cop.