As the War in Iran continues, Church leaders including Pope Leo XIV have voiced strong messages for peace. This past Sunday evening, President Donald Trump posted disparaging words about Pope Leo XIV on social media, who then responded to those criticisms aboard the papal plane on Monday. Father Dave unpacks what events led to these tensions and what the Church teaches about war.
“Pope Leo has been calling for peace throughout his entire pontificate. You can watch the video clip of when he first walked out on the balcony, and the very first thing he says when he opens his mouth is, ‘Peace be with you.’ Now that’s not surprising, that’s a fairly common greeting; In fact, it’s one of the standard greetings that a bishop can use at Mass,” Father Dave begins. “The entire time since he’s been elected, the world has been involved in [war]; the ones that are top of mind are the war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza.”
“Those wars preceded [his papacy], so he’s spoken about those in the past. More recently, with the escalation of [the war] in Iran, Pope Leo has even more forcibly said: peace. We need to work towards peace,” Father Dave continues. “Pope Leo called for a prayer vigil this past Saturday…People evaluating that speech or those prayer remarks, both secular and people within the Church, are describing it as the most critical he’s been of war.”
Father Dave notes that Pope Leo did not specifically mention the United States or President Trump in this prayer service, but emphasized what we believe as Catholics. Father Dave continues, “Our core belief is peace and not war. That’s a lot of what Pope Leo talked about on Saturday. He said, ‘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 says, ‘Even the holy name of God, the God of life, is being dragged into discourses of death.’”
Father Dave adds, “That happens all over the world and all the time, but recently there has been a lot of rhetoric from our U.S. administration, standing on the biblical and Christian principles, saying this is why we’re going to war. Pope Leo is cautioning against rationalizing any use of immoral force and war in the name of God. Obviously it’s not the first time in thousands of years that this has happened.”
Father Dave acknowledges that the Church has used the name of God for war throughout history, but that Church teaching has evolved in the modern era. “Certainly in the last 150 years — very much springing from the watershed encyclical from Saint John XXIII called ‘Pacem in Terris,’ or ‘peace on earth,’ and the Second Vatican Council — we’ve been able to talk, as a Church, more specifically about what you might call modern warfare,” he says. “Is there any justification for going to war in any circumstance, or is the Catholic Church 100% pacifist? The answer is no, we’re not 100% pacifist, but those criteria for war are small.”
He cites some of the Catechism’s definitions of a just war, specifically in light of President Trump’s threat to destroy Iran’s civilization. Father Dave says, “In section 2314 of the Catechism it says, ‘Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation. A danger of modern warfare is that it provides the opportunity to those who possess modern scientific weapons — especially atomic, biological, or chemical weapons — to commit such crimes.’”
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Father Dave underscores that this is the teaching of the Church and not Pope Leo’s individual beliefs. “[The Catechism states] Taking out an entire city without respect to innocent civilians is a crime against God,” he continues. “Not only does it say that, it also very clearly says in the Catechism that it should be condemned unequivocally. That’s what Pope Leo did; He condemned that unequivocally and says this has to stop. We have to get back to the negotiating table to find peace.”
In addition to the Pope’s recent statements, Father Dave highlights that President Trump’s criticisms came after Sunday’s 60 Minutes interview with the United States’ three actively serving Cardinals — Cardinals Cupich, Tobin, and McElroy — echoing that this is not a just war according to Catholic teaching. “They have previously made some joint statements together about both immigration and about war, and Norah O’Donnell sat down with the three of them and asked pointed questions,” Father Dave says. “How do you respond when Catholics say, ‘Keep your politics out of the pulpit,’ or ‘The pope should stay in his own lane’?”
He shares his own response to questions like this. “In my anecdotal experience, I find that when people say that, it’s because it’s not their politics that’s coming from the pulpit,” he says. “People don’t say, ‘Shut your mouth, priest’ when he’s talking about being pro-life, but when he starts talking about immigration or war, it’s like, ‘Hey, keep that politics out of the pulpit.’ That’s when hopefully we realize that we’re making those knee-jerk reactions not based on our faith but based on our political party.”
