One does not have to be Catholic to understand Pope Leo XIV’s criticism of the U.S. war in Iran or be appalled at how President Donald Trump has responded to the disagreement.
Leo’s duty as the spiritual leader of 1.9 billion Catholics is to remind the world when it is not adhering to the teachings of Jesus Christ, including the imperative to always strive for peace.
There may be justifications for the war against Iran, but they fall short of the theological criteria rooted not just in Catholicism but in many Christian religions when it comes to determining whether a war is just. Among those criteria are whether nonviolent efforts to work out the differences with an adversary have been exhausted and whether only combatants, not civilians, are targeted by the hostilities.
The U.S. is rightly concerned about a nuclear-armed Iran, but there’s been no evidence to show Iran was anywhere close to that capability before war was jointly launched in late February by the U.S. and Israel. In fact, last summer’s U.S. bombing attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities had supposedly put that country’s nuclear program years back, according to the Trump administration.
In addition, nonviolent means, mostly in the form of economic sanctions, had been working to destabilize the Islamic fundamentalist regime in Iran and strengthen internal dissent there. The economic pressures would have taken more time to topple the ayatollahs, but perseverance and patience could have paid off.
So far, Trump’s repeated and sometimes profane threats against civilian targets in Iran — power plants, bridges, desalination plants — have been all bluster, but if carried out, they would be war crimes on par with those committed by Russia against Ukrainian civilians. Leo was being, if anything, restrained when he described such threats — including Trump’s infamous warning that “a whole civilization” would be eradicated if Iran did not agree to his terms — as “truly unacceptable.”
In speaking out against war, the pope has been consistent with the positions he took before he became head of the Catholic Church and with the stands of his papal predecessors.
Trump’s response, though, has been both disproportionate and insulting — not unusual for someone who feels entitled to verbally bludgeon anyone who criticizes his decisions.
The president vainly claimed credit for Leo’s elevation as pope. He accused Leo of being “weak on crime, and terrible for foreign policy.” He also said he didn’t “want a pope who criticizes the president of the United States,” a reversal of Trump’s effort to bask last year in this country’s excitement after Leo became the first American pope.
Even when other popes have disagreed with U.S. policies, they have been treated with respect and esteem by American presidents. But Trump is the first American president in at least a century to treat the Vatican as an adversary, first about the Republican administration’s immigration crackdown and now about a war launched without congressional or international approval.
Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, a convert to Catholicism who seems more concerned about power than the spirit, added his own disrespect when he tried to lecture the pope to be “careful when he talks about matters of theology.” Spiritual leaders are not expected to be careful; they are expected to be truthful. Sometimes the truth is challenging and uncomfortable, but Christianity is not an easy or comfortable religion. It asks more of human beings than it is in their nature to give, such as to love your enemies and forgive those who do you wrong.
The pope has no apologies to make for following his conscience and speaking out against war, even if it comes off as criticism of U.S. foreign policy. He is supposed to keep people focused on the kingdom in heaven, not the kingdoms on earth. That requires constantly reminding the world’s rulers of their moral obligation to pursue peace.
