LEO XIV or Donald Trump? Which American world leader — the supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church or the president of the United States — is right in the current public spat over the righteousness or unrighteousness of the six-week-old US-Israel war against Iran?
Since Easter on April 5, Pope Leo has strongly criticized the Trump administration for the conflict that has not only killed thousands, including 170 Iranian schoolgirls and their parents and teachers hit by Tomahawk cruise missiles, but also devastated military and civilian facilities across the Middle East.
And with Iran and lately the US blockading the Strait of Hormuz, world petroleum prices have trebled, threatening the global economy. Food supplies, too, as 30 percent of all fertilizers are produced — and now stuck — in the Gulf.
Only God knows who’s right, of course, as the sole judge of righteousness, at least in the eyes of the half of humanity, this writer included, believing in a Supreme Being, based on global surveys.
But we mortals should still seek to discern right and wrong, based on verified facts about events and issues being deliberated and with divine guidance in prayer, authoritative doctrine and, for Christians, the Bible we heed as the inspired Word of God.
Before diving into the Vatican-Washington debate, let’s set aside a common but wrongheaded objection to religious authorities speaking on politics and other nonreligious matters.
While priests, prelates and even popes need expert advice to understand secular developments, they have the knowledge and training to assess moral and other spiritual aspects of all human actions. All. After all, God is Lord of the universe and history, so He and His ministers have every right and, indeed, duty to impart His views and judgments on all earthly affairs. Period.
Now, just as God lets sunshine and rain fall upon all and sundry, whether holy or unholy, heavenly perspectives on the world should also not take partisan sides in human conflicts. God’s loving wisdom seeks the goodness and salvation of all people, however they may think, speak and act on earthly matters.
Vatican vs Pentagon
Based on news reports, what triggered the presidential-papal clash were remarks by US Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth at the Pentagon, headquarters of the Department of Defense, which the Trump administration likes to call the Department of War, the agency’s original name.
Long before the current Iran hostilities, Hegseth injected religious tenets and activities at the Pentagon, including sessions with Christian preachers. So it’s no surprise that he sought to convey religious significance and support for the war on Iran.
In public remarks, the former Fox News host claimed divine approval and providence for the US-Israel offensive, which included not just air and missile strikes on weapons systems, but also the assassination of top Iranian leaders, including then-supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Among other religion-laced statements, Hegseth cited Bible verses on resurrection in extolling the recent rescue from Iran of a downed US airman.
With strong election support from conservative Evangelical Christians, Trump also brought Christian prayer, principles and practices into his two terms. Among them: reversing Joe Biden-era gender policies opposed by Christians, blocking funds for abortion programs and creating a religious freedom commission to counter antifaith policies like Canada’s looming ban on quoting Bible verses against homosexual acts.
Trump and other top US officials have used religion to justify the war. He and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent referred to the airman’s rescue as an Easter miracle, never mind that more US aircraft were lost in the operation than in any other mission since the Vietnam War.
In the media tussle with Pope Leo, who the president lacked knowledge of war, Trump also posted a computer-generated image of himself as a haloed man attired like Jesus and healing a bedridden patient. He took that down after an outcry, then posted another picture depicting Jesus embracing him.
On several occasions since Easter, the Holy Father decried the use of Christ to justify war, maintaining that our Lord opposed violence and wanted only peace. “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,” Leo warned in Cameroon. “The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants.”
Catholic bishops in the US supported Leo, and Asian prelates chimed in last week. Muslim leaders in the Middle East also expressed support for the Holy Father, noting that Islam revered Jesus. American Evangelical pastors were divided: some also used Biblical language to favor the war, while others opposed “associating the president and his administration with the assumed will of God and even the likeness of God,” as Episcopalian Bishop Mariann Budde of Washington put it.
The view from heaven
Even as devout Christians and Trump opponents agitate against him, for most of America and the world, the far greater issue is not religion, but how the war affects prices, jobs and other economic concerns. With the ceasefire and the avowed opening of the Strait of Hormuz by both Iran and the US, there is global relief — for now. But we wait with bated breath if hostilities and the blockade would continue to be suspended, and serious negotiations would resume.
As for the faith angle, most people pondering the Leo-versus-Trump controversy probably see it as pitting the Holy Father espousing God’s will for peace against the aggressive leader of superpower America waging hostilities that could trigger world war and global depression — certainly not what humanity and divinity want.
That stark confrontation between what heaven wishes and what earthly powers assert may well be what our Lord wants in our time of worldwide idolatry of power, money, and selfish interest. Then humanity has to choose which one to serve: God or the mammon of imperial hegemony, weaponry and money.
How the world chooses may well decide if we face salvation or catastrophe in the coming years and decades.
So help us God.
