Hegseth says troops fight for Jesus, pope disagrees

ROME >> Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary, has asked the American people to pray “every day, on bended knee” for a military victory in the Middle East “in the name of Jesus Christ.”

Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pontiff, has a starkly different take on what should be done in Jesus’ name.

In a homily during a Mass on Thursday morning before Easter, the pope said that the Christian mission has often been “distorted by a desire for domination, entirely foreign to the way of Jesus Christ.”

Since the United States and Israel began bombing Iran in late February, the pope has consistently called for an end to the violence and a return to dialogue to resolve the conflict. But without naming Hegseth, he has also pointed out the ways in which Christianity has been marshaled for purposes that the pope says do not align with Catholic teaching.

“We tend to consider ourselves powerful when we dominate, victorious when we destroy our equals, great when we are feared,” the pope said in a homily during a Holy Thursday rite at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the bishop of Rome. “God has given us an example — not of how to dominate, but of how to liberate; not of how to destroy life, but of how to give it.”

In late March, the pope warned against invoking the name of Jesus for battle, saying in a Sunday homily that Jesus “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”

Throughout his first year as pontiff, Leo has been careful not to wade into U.S. politics and has avoided direct confrontation with the White House.

He has used his influence through proxies, such as when he encouraged U.S. bishops to strongly support immigrants last year as President Donald Trump escalated his deportation campaign.

He has mentioned Trump only when asked directly by a reporter if he had a message for the U.S. president.

“I’m told that President Trump recently stated that he would like to end the war,” the pope said outside his country residence in Castel Gandolfo outside Rome on March 31. “Hopefully he’s looking for a way to, to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing.”

Leo has said he has not spoken directly to Trump about the war. But he talked this morning by telephone with Isaac Herzog, president of Israel, and reiterated the importance of dialogue and ending the conflicts to secure a “just and lasting peace” in the Middle East, according to a Vatican statement.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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