Pope Leo has said God ignores the prayers of leaders who wage war and have “hands full of blood”, in an apparent rebuke to the Trump administration.
The pontiff made the comments on Sunday as thousands of US troops arrived in the Middle East and days after the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, prayed for violence against enemies who deserved “no mercy”.
During a Palm Sunday mass in St Peter’s Square, the pope said the conflict between Iran, Israel and the US was “atrocious” and that Jesus could not be used to justify war.
“This is our God: Jesus, king of peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” he told tens of thousands of worshippers. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
Quoting a Bible passage, Leo added: “‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.’”
The Catholic church’s first US pontiff did not name any government or individual, but the unusually pointed remarks followed Hegseth’s prayer for violence on Wednesday and the buildup of US ground forces near Iran.
The pope cited a Bible passage in which Jesus upbraided a disciple who used a sword to try to repel soldiers who came to arrest him. Jesus did not arm himself or fight, the pope said. “He revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence. Rather than saving himself, he allowed himself to be nailed to the cross.”
The plea for peace came as the Pentagon prepared for weeks of ground operations, according to US officials who briefed the Washington Post. The Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said his country’s forces were waiting for US troops to “set them on fire”.
Leaders on all sides of the conflict have used religion to try to justify their actions. Hegseth’s insertion of his Christian faith into the Pentagon’s actions has drawn particular attention and controversy.
Last week at a Christian worship service for military and civilian workers in Washington, Hegseth said: “Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation. Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
The defence secretary is a member of a church affiliated with the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, whose founder self-identifies as a Christian nationalist.
The pope has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and a ban on airstrikes in a conflict that has rained destruction on Lebanon, Israel and Gulf states. In his homily on Sunday, the pope lamented that Christians in the region may not be able to celebrate Easter.
For Christians, Palm Sunday is the start of a holy week that marks Christ’s arrival in Jerusalem days before his crucifixion and resurrection.
On Sunday morning, Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, an archbishop with Catholic jurisdiction across Israel and the Palestinian territories, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to conduct mass.
The US, France and Italy criticised the decision. The US ambassador Mike Huckabee, a devout evangelical Christian, said the incident was “an unfortunate overreach”. Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said it was “an offence not only to the faithful but to any community that respects religious freedom”, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said “the free exercise of worship in Jerusalem must be guaranteed for all religions”.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said there had been no “malicious intent” and the cardinal was prevented from accessing the church because of safety concerns. But he later announced that although he understood “this concern”, he had instructed the relevant authorities that Pizzaballa “be granted full and immediate access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem”.
