Voices against the war are rising from the Pope and the Church
Voices against the war are rising from the Pope and the Church
Pope Leo described the war started by Donald Trump in Iran as a "scandal for the whole human family".
The Vatican and the Catholic Church is in a covert struggle with the "MAGA" movement and Trump due to the US-Israel war against Iran, the "Antichrist lessons" given by Peter Thiel in Rome and the blockade against Cuba.
Last month, Palantir founder Peter Thiel, a supporter of numerous conservative politicians, especially J.D. Vance, was in Europe to give his highly secret but equally well-known lectures on the Antichrist and the apocalypse.
According to Mattia Ferraresi of the Financial Times (FT), the Catholic world did not welcome her very well. Catholic clergy saw the co-founder of Palantir not as an extraordinary Christian worth resting, but as a dangerous apostate who should be excluded.
The Catholic press criticized him as “a malicious pseudo thinker who advocates a skewed political theology,” and a theologian from the papal university suggested that Thiel himself could be the Antichrist.
Thiel's speeches imply that the Antichrist will try to slow down technological progress and chain human innovation with regulations and moral restrictions.
Pope XIV. Leo also shows great interest in technological development and artificial intelligence. A papal circular titled “Magnifica Humanitas” will be published soon and will present an assessment of the Catholic vision of its relationship with human nature and technology.
JD Vance headed to the Catholic Church after attending a conference of Thiel. Together with Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio, Vance is among the most prominent Catholics who lead an administration that may be in conflict with Church teachings than any government in recent history.
Ceasefire call from Leo
Last week, Pope Leo addressed a group of journalists. “I want to reiterate the call for a ceasefire; working for peace, but not with weapons, but through dialogue, seeking a real solution for all,” the Pope said in his message.
This was the pope and the Vatican's at least twelfth appeal to the public to end the Iran war in twenty-five days.
Since February 28, Leo has been giving anti-war messages through Angelus speeches, papal receptions, sermons in Roman communities, monthly prayer videos, statements to airline managers and military priests, and messages delivered through the Foreign Minister and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Leo also said, “Hate is increasing and violence is getting worse. More than a million people have been displaced and there are many dead," he said.
In last month's Angelus prayer, the Pope said, "Let's offer our humble prayers to the Lord to cut off the noise of the bombs, silence the guns and open a dialogue environment where the voices of the people can be heard."
Vatican Foreign Minister criticized 'preventive war' doctrine
Although the Holy Site has traditionally maintained its diplomatic neutrality, Vatican Foreign Minister Cardinal Pietro Parolin also openly criticized the United States.
Parolin told Vatican Media:
“If states are deemed to have the right to wage 'preventive war' according to their own criteria and without a supranational legal framework, the whole world will face the risk of being in flames. The erosion of international law in this way is truly worrying: justice has given way to power; the power of law has given way to the law of power, with the belief that peace can only be achieved after the enemy is destroyed.”
The White House is disturbed by Leo's calls. President Trump told EWTN on March 20 that the pope was not interested in peace advice.
When asked about Leo's latest statements two days later, Trump more outspokenly emphasized that he "did not want a ceasefire".
US cardinals are more outspoken: "The war against Iran is not morally legitimate"
Archbishop of Washington DC Cardinal Robert W. McElroy also went beyond the Pope, who made more moderate calls for the US-Israel war against Iran “not morally legitimate”.
In an interview with Catholic Standard last month, McElroy said:
“The fair cause criterion is not met; because our country was not responding to a current or near and objectively verifiable attack by Iran. As Pope Benedict categorically stated, Catholic doctrine does not support preventive war, that is, a war justified by speculations about future events. If preventive war were to be considered moral, all relevant boundaries would be overly endangered on the grounds of entering the war.”
McElroy also argued that the conflict does not meet the "right intention criterion," in his opinion, one of the most worrying elements of the war in Iran is that the goals and intentions of the United States are "absolutely uncertain."
McElroy continued:
“(...) these range from the destruction of Iran's conventional and nuclear weapons potential to the overthrow of the regime, the formation of a democratic government and unconditional surrender. If you don't have a clear intention, you can't meet the right intention criterion of the fair war tradition.”
“Our current war effort does not comply with the doctrine of Catholic just war, because it is not clear that the benefits of this war will outweigh the damage it will cause,” the U.S. cardinal said.
Cardinal's statements, Chicago Cardinal Blase J. It came after Cupich had previously published a statement condemning a video shared on social media by the White House, which mixed war footage with quotes from action movies.
“It's disgusting to treat a real war with real deaths and real suffering as if it were a video game,” Cupich wrote.
USA reacted when churches in Palestine rejected "Christian Zionism"
Concern is growing in church communities
McElroy said in an interview that since the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran, he had faced a “very serious concern” about the conflict between members of the community:
“Almost everyone rightly thinks that the Khamenei regime is a cruel and oppressive government that has spread terror to the world for decades and needs to be changed, but there is a great concern that this war will get out of control and take the United States even deeper.”
He added that some members of the community told him that they were worried about their children serving in the military, while others reminded him of the US's previous wars in Iraq and that “despite great American losses and enormous costs, these wars did not bring peace or unity.”
At the same time, McElroy also stated that some members of the community believe that "despite these facts, now it is time for the United States to end theocracy in Iran and form a more friendly and peaceful government."
McElroy said he believed that “it is vital for Catholics in our Archbishopric to pray for peace and the immediate end of this conflict” and continued:
“As citizens and believers, we must report our positions on this ongoing war to our political representatives and offer our own guidance to this country we love so much.”
The Cardinal also said that “those who are concerned in our families, congregations, and communities should be reassured that the consolation of the Holy Spirit will be with them.”
The cardinal continued:
“Finally and foremost, we must ensure that this war does not turn into a long-term conflict that is thrown from target to target, from strategy to strategy. One of the most important Catholic teachings about war and peace is that nations have a strict obligation to end war as soon as possible. This is especially true in cases where the decision to go to war is not morally legitimate.”
Israeli crack in Catholic right
The Israeli rift among the pro-"MAGA" Catholic rightists in the US has become even more visible in recent months.
The debate broke out when former Miss California Prejean Boller, who was on Trump's Committee on Religious Freedoms, launched a debate about Israel and Zionism.
At a Congressional session in February, Prejean Boller asked Jewish witnesses whether refusing not to adopt Zionism made him anti-Semitic, and whether it was considered bigotry to believe that Jews were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus.
Texas Deputy Governor Dan Patrick, who chaired the commission, described his dismissal as a matter of courtesy and stated that no commissioner had the right to “seize a session for the sake of their own personal and political agendas”.
The Presidency Personnel Office followed the issue in March and formalized the dismissal decision.
But recently, Robert Barron, Bishop of Winona-Rochester, who is considered the "most cautious diplomat" of the Catholic right, addressed Boller directly and wrote, "He was not dismissed because of his religious beliefs, but rather because of his behavior at the Commission meeting last month: he tried to intimidate witnesses, aggressively imposed his own opinion, took over the meeting for his own political purposes."
Barron described Boller's claim of religious persecution as “absurd” and “unreasonable”, and also explained the Catholics' true stance on Zionism as follows: “a definitive opposition to anti-Semitism, recognition of Israel's right to exist, but also the recognition of the Jewish state's 'not closed to criticism'.”
In a post he shared in X, Prejean Boller accused Barron of “saying something in private, something else in public” and claimed that he was actually adopting his views on Israel.
Later, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the country's leading Catholic cleric and member of the Religious Freedoms Commission, retweeted Barron's statement, supporting the results of this statement.
Vatican's mediation effort in Cuba
It seems that the church maintains relations with Cuba under American blockade and intensifies its mediation efforts.
Finally, in March, Cuba released 51 prisoners at the initiative of the Vatican.
The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement:
“In the framework of the spirit of goodwill and close and fluid relations between the state of Cuba and the Vatican – which has historically been communicated between these two institutions on the review and release of the status of prisoners – the Cuban government has decided to release 51 people sentenced to prison in the coming days. All of these people have suffered a significant part of their sentences and have been well-being in prison.”
In March 2025, 553 prisoners were given early release permission within the scope of another agreement made under the mediation of the Vatican.
The release of the prisoners took place two weeks after Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez met with Pope Leo in the Vatican.
Pope: Avoid any kind of action that could increase the suffering of the beloved Cuban people
In a report in the Washington Post, Pope XIV. In high-level meetings, including those with Leo, Cuban officials demanded that the Vatican take on the role of mediator with the US.
According to several sources close to the talks, the goal here is to facilitate negotiations and ease the White House's pressure campaign to isolate Cuba through an actual oil blockade.
Visiting the island in 1998, II. Since John Paul, popes have condemned the far-reaching US trade embargo on Havana.
The Vatican prepared the diplomatic ground for President Barack Obama's historic visit to Cuba in March 2016.
As few have pointed out, the current hope is based on the idea that a respected institution led by a new American pope could have more influence over President Donald Trump, who threatened to “take over Cuba,” and the Catholic hawks under his rule who are pressure for regime change in Havana.
President of the US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council John S. “Cubans have always believed that the Vatican has some kind of magical power, and they believe that more than they have invested in Cuba will return through the Vatican's approval,” Kavulich said.
The Catholic Church in Cuba remains an important institution and has become more public.
The bishops on the island made a bold call for "political changes that Cuba needs" at the end of January.
But the bishops also stated that "governments should be able to resolve their disputes and conflicts through dialogue and diplomacy, not through forcing or war."
Leo also reiterated these words in a public call and on February 1, he invited “all responsible parties” to dialogue in order to “avoid any violence and action that could enhance the suffering of the beloved Cuban people.”