Christian Theology and the Morality of War: The Pope–Trump Standoff

Dr. T M Thomas Issac

Whose side is God on? The US War Secretary, Pete Hegseth, is trying to portray the aggressive war being carried out by the United States and Israel in West Asia into a new version of the Crusades. After the war began, a video went viral showing more than twenty pastors placing their hands on Donald Trump’s head and praying in the President’s office.

The mild-mannered Pope Leo XIV would have none of this religious bigotry. In his Palm Sunday sermon, he said:

Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, the Prince of Peace. He rejects war. No one should use Him to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war; He rejects them… ‘Even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood’ (Isaiah 1:15).

The Final Battle in the Book of Revelation

It has become a habit of the American “War Secretary” to freely use the imagery and symbolism from the Book of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament. The book presents apocalyptic visions - the ultimate battle between good and evil, the victory of good, the Second Coming of Christ, the final defeat of Satan, and the emergence of a new heaven and a new earth. His attempt is to create the impression that the Iran war is akin to Armageddon.

“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle. He is my loving kindness and my fortress…” (Psalms 144:1–2).

Read his description of the rescue of an American pilot from Iran:

In that moment of isolation and danger, his faith and warrior spirit shone. Look - on Friday, Good Friday, he was shot down. He hid all Saturday in a cave or crevice. On Sunday he was rescued. At sunrise on Easter Sunday, he flew out of Iran - a pilot reborn. Everyone returned safely, and a nation rejoiced.

The pilot's first message was: “God is good.”

Hegseth is not a Biblical scholar. Much of his use of scripture appears to be scripted by  someone else. As a consequence, he is now facing embarrassment for quoting from cinematic pulp fiction for sounding dramatic while supposedly quoting Ezekiel 25:17:

“I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes…”

The deception was exposed, bringing some temporary calm to his biblical antics.

The Threat of the Avignon Papacy

It is no surprise that the Trump administration reacted with anger. In late January, a largely unnoticed incident had taken place: On January 9, addressing Vatican diplomats, the Pope spoke against war hysteria and condemned the arbitrary violation of international law. This angered Trump.

The Vatican ambassador to the U.S., the elderly Cardinal Christophe Pierre, was summoned to the Pentagon and sharply reprimanded and threatened by Elbridge Colby. There was no need to create such a confrontation based on an internal Vatican speech. But the Pentagon used the Vatican’s diplomatic meeting in Rome as an opportunity for Trump to express his displeasure.

The U.S. asserted that it has the military power to do anything in the world and warned the Vatican not to adopt an anti-American stance. It even invoked the memory of the Avignon Papacy.

In the early 14th century, the French king attacked the Vatican and detained Pope Clement V in Avignon, subjecting him to control and humiliation. This dark period lasted nearly seventy years and was one of the most disgraceful eras for the Church. The message Trump intended to convey was clear: the Pope in Rome could be made irrelevant.

A Global Prayer Campaign

This incident was leaked to the media by the Trump administration. The Pope did not publicly comment. However, on April 11 at 6 PM (Rome time), he called for a global prayer.

He himself led the prayer at St. Peter’s Square, and Cardinal Christophe Pierre was mentioned as a dignitary joining him in prayer vigil. Churches and Christian communities worldwide joined in the prayer vigil.

Why is Trump so angry?

Pope Leo XIV supports recognition of a Palestinian state as part of achieving peace. Palestinians should recognize Israel, and Israel should recognize Palestine - this aligns with United Nations two-state resolutions.

However, Israel is attempting to eliminate Palestine through force. This has involved mass killings - nearly 100,000 Palestinians have reportedly died. Homes, schools, and hospitals have been destroyed. Palestinians in the West Bank are being displaced by new Israeli settlers. Now there are moves to incorporate southern Lebanon as well. And the Pope quotes Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount “Blessed are the peace makers……..”.

Trump has now turned directly against the Pope: “Leo should be grateful… He was not even on the list. He became Pope only because he is American… If I weren’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”

He insists the Pope must align with U.S. policies and accuses him of being “radical left” and “too liberal.” Trump even shared an AI-generated image portraying himself as Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. This triggered widespread protests across Christian denominations.

Teaching Theology to the Pope

It was at this juncture that the Vice President JD Vance, who incidentally is also a Catholic,  attempted to lecture the Pope on theology: “When the pope says that God is never on the side of people who wield the sword, there is more than a 1,000-year tradition of just war theory.

We can, of course, have disagreements about whether this or that conflict is just.

How do you say that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword?

I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology. If you’re going to opine on matters of theology, you’ve got to be careful.”

Imaging him advising the Pope to be cautious when speaking on theology.

Response from U.S. Bishops

It was indeed a very amusing comment teaching theology of Just War to the Pope because he was formerly the head of the Augustenian congregation whose founder St. Augustine in the 7th century expounded the Just War concept.

The Just War doctrine, rooted in Saint Augustine, allows war only for self-defence. Only after all peace efforts fail. Thus, the Church’s position: the current war is unjust. The cardinal Robert W McElroy, the head of US Bishops conference made it crystal clear:

We are in the midst of an immoral war. We entered this war not out of necessity but rather choice. We failed to ardently pursue the pathway of negotiation to its end before turning to war. We had no clear intention, darting from unconditional surrender to regime change to the degradation of conventional weapons to the removal of nuclear materials. And we blinded ourselves to the cascade of global destructiveness that would likely flow from our attacks – the expansion of the war far beyond Iran, the disruption of the world economy, and the loss of life. Each of these policy failures is equally a moral failure which under Catholic just war principles renders both the initiation of this war and any continuation of it morally illegitimate.

A New Peace Movement

The Catholic Church’s anti-war stance is helping to shape global public opinion. During the prayer gathering in Washington, Cardinal Robert McElroy concluded his speech with a call to action:

And when we leave this church this night, we must move beyond prayer. 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 one or both sides, and our president will move to reenter 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.”Today, one could say that Pope Leo XIV is one of the strongest voices for peace in West Asia. He does not speak taking sides but out of anguish over the human suffering caused by war. Trump, however, has failed to grasp this and instead attempts to intimidate the Vatican.

The Pope avoids direct confrontation but communicates a clear moral stance: war is a profound human tragedy. He began his African visit symbolically - walking barefoot into the Grand Mosque of Algiers - sending a message of interfaith harmony.