A Great Example from Pope Leo XIV Amid the Turmoil of the Iran War
Pope Leo XIV is more than just a Catholic leader. He is truly a caller to virtue that transcends boundaries of religion, nation, and culture. For him, virtue, justice, and compassion are universal and unbound by any differences.
To that end, he boldly calls for resistance against injustice on one side, and serves as a moral bulwark on the other. This is not only guided by divine messages and truths, but also by social consensus in the form of human-made rules, including international law.
Thus, he does not hesitate to oppose President Donald Trump’s adventures in Iran, while leaders and figures of the same faith as the majority of Iran’s population are busy quarrelling over the Shiite-Sunni dichotomy.
Pope Leo does not look at who Trump and Israel are fighting. Instead, he opposes the exploitation of religion merely for power and the arrogance of leaders.
He flatly rejects US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s classification of the US and Israel’s war against Iran as a holy war.
In response to Hegseth’s religious justification for the illegal US war in Iran, Pope Leo asserts that God rejects war and cannot be used as a reason for waging it.
In his statement widely quoted by global media, including Reuters, Pope Leo stated that God does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rather rejects them.
Pope Leo rejects the manipulation and defilement of religious values by an illegal war like the one currently occurring in Iran. It is illegal because the war lacks global consensus at the UN, without US congressional approval, and without clear reasons.
Iran itself never declared war on the US before the US and Israel attacked it starting from late February. On the contrary, Iran was busy negotiating when the US and Israeli military attacked it on the orders of Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.
In Pope Leo’s view, the war in Iran only shows enmity that is so contrary to the pro-life teachings strongly embraced by the Catholic Church.
He urges all of humanity to “remember the innocent children, the elderly, the sick, and so many people who have become or will become victims of the war”.
Pope Leo’s voice grows louder as Trump threatens to wipe out Iranian civilisation. This threat has crossed the line because it is no longer about regime change and military conquest of Iran.
That threat of annihilating civilisation reminds people of the 13th-century Mongol invasions that destroyed many kingdoms in the past, including the Abbasid Caliphate.
That destruction was not just about killing people and demolishing buildings, but also about eradicating traces of human civilisation and culture, even literature was destroyed, so that national identity vanished in an instant. And this is more evil than the war itself.
Thus, it is understandable that a moral caller and protector like Pope Leo is disturbed by Trump’s threat, especially since part of Donald Trump’s war cabinet is trying to justify religion for the war against Iran.
Because destroying a civilisation is tantamount to eradicating the identity, traces, and history of humanity, Pope Leo urges all humanity around the world to press their leaders to immediately seek an end to the Iran War.
Ironically, even against the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, Trump retaliates with an attack. “If I weren’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump retorts arrogantly.
Leo, or Cardinal Robert Prevost, is indeed the first Pope from the United States. His election in 2025 ends the tendency to sideline the US from the pinnacle of the Holy See.
Opposing war