Speaking to tens of thousands in St. Peter’s Square on Palm Sunday, Pope Leo XIV rejected any attempt to invoke God as a justification for armed conflict as the war in Iran entered its second month.
The pontiff emphasized that Jesus is ‘‘King of Peace’’ and must not be enlisted to legitimize violence. “Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” he said, adding the biblical rebuke: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.”
The first US-born pope did not single out leaders by name, but in recent weeks he has intensified criticism of the fighting in Iran and repeatedly urged an immediate ceasefire. At the close of Mass he said he was praying for Christians across the Middle East who are “suffering the consequences of an atrocious conflict,” and noted that many cannot properly observe the rites of these holy days.
On Monday, Pope Leo also denounced indiscriminate aerial attacks and argued such strikes should be prohibited. “Airplanes should always be carriers of peace, never of war. No one should be afraid that threats of death and destruction might come from the sky,” he said, while stopping short of explicitly linking the remark to the Iran fighting.
The pope’s comments contrast with rhetoric from some other quarters. Since February 28, when joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran began, certain US officials have invoked Christian language in defending military action. At a Pentagon religious service, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth prayed for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
Pope Leo’s Palm Sunday appeal framed the conflict in moral and spiritual terms, urging leaders and faithful alike not to co-opt faith to rationalize war and calling instead for paths that protect life and allow worshippers to observe their sacred traditions.