Pope Leo XIV on Thursday issued what may be his most explicit condemnation yet of the Trump administration’s use of biblical invocations to justify the US-Israeli war on Iran, as tensions between the Vatican and the White House ramp up.
“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,” Pope Leo wrote on X, citing his own remarks on a visit to Cameroon.
“The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants,” he said in his speech.
At almost the exact same time in Washington, DC, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was lecturing the press corps on Thursday by comparing them to Pharisees in the Bible – believed by Christians to be those who witnessed first-hand the miracles performed by Jesus Christ, yet chose not to believe.
The miracles in this case are presumably meant to be the US military’s achievements in the seven-week war, which has killed more than 3,000 Iranians.