From Gaza To Iran, Two ‘Woke Popes’ Against War And Terror

A day after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israeli territory, the then Pope Francis issued a statement to release the hostages, warning that war and terrorism will mean defeat for humanity. The Pope, in the following months, maintained a neutral tone but gradual shifts in messaging could be observed. 

 He started focusing more on the children, women being slaughtered mindlessly; he claimed ‘right to defend’ is inalienable and yet it cannot be an excuse for unleashing terror. It wouldn't be until 2024 when the highest Christian authority would use the word ‘Genocide’ for the situation in Gaza.

 As Pope Francis repeated “the only one benefits from war is a weapons manufacturer’ across dozens of statements, and with his pro-gay rights and pro-adoption speeches, he was dubbed the ‘woke pope’ by some. 

 But his successor, Pope Leo XIV turned, equally, if not more, anti-war. 

 When US secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, invoked God multiple times, the Pope’s messages immediately after his tweets/speeches seemed like a ‘fact check’, as the internet called it.

 Such as earlier this month, the War Secretary urged Americans to pray ‘every day, on bended knee’ US victory in West Asia ‘in the name of Jesus Christ’. But ahead of Easter Sunday Mass, the Pope made a cryptic speech, stating, “When we dominate someone, we start to feel powerful. God has given us an example. The example is not how to rule someone, but how to liberate them. It is important to give life, not to destroy it.” 

Pope Leo XIV is the first North American Pope in papal history, born in Chicago which is a historically Blue state. In this war, the US-Israel war on Iran, each time the US side invoked God, it was almost always followed by a social media post or statement by the Pope on how God could not be invoked (without naming anyone of course).

 Coincidentally, the Pope’s clear anti-war messaging at Easter arrived after Hegseth’s repeated divine justifications, and US President Donald Trump’s Truth Post stating, “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD!”

 On Palm Sunday, he said, “Jesus is the King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war… He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war but rejects them.” To solidify his reasoning, he used a quote from the Bible—‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.’ During this speech, he added that Christians in West Asia who “are suffering the consequences of an atrocious conflict” would not be able to even celebrate the Holy Day. 

Three days before this statement, War Secretary Hegseth, leading Christian prayer services ​at the Pentagon, prayed for "overwhelming violence ​of action against ⁠those who deserve no mercy". Furthermore, Trump was alleged to be Jesus-anointed by members of his group, being termed as a Holy vessel to bring Armageddon to Iran. In a White House portrait, his cabinet posed with him as if Trump were Jesus himself. The Papal office never addressed these claims; that Jesus sent his messenger to earth in the form of Donald Trump. 

 The former Pope’s messages were addressed namelessly but he, being the Pope, urged people for peace in God’s name. Such as this from December 17, 2023: “I continue receiving very serious and sad news about Gaza. Unarmed civilians are targets for bombs and gunfire. And this has happened even within the parish complex of the Holy Family, where there are no terrorists, but families, children, people who are sick and have disabilities, sisters…. This is terrorism and war”. Yes, it is war, it is terrorism. That is why Scripture says that “God puts an end to war…the bow he breaks and the spear he snaps.” 

 Both the Popes—Leo and Francis—have repeatedly made anti-war statements and have been harsh on ‘perpetrators’ of violence. However, in all his appeals for peace between Palestine and Israel or Ukraine and Russia, he avoided naming the leaders of these countries. Pope Leo XIV has broken this unspoken rule. 

Speaking to journalists last week, he said, “I'm told that President Trump has recently ​ stated that he would like to end the ​war, “Hopefully he's looking for an off-ramp… Hopefully ​he's looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence.”

 This is the first time a Pope called out to a leader directly amid war discussions. 

 Reuters titled their report on this development as “Leo, the first US pope, emerges as a pointed Trump critic.”  On many US-based websites, think pieces are being published if what a Pope says is relevant or followed by or adhered to by Catholics and Christians globally, in the aftermath of Leo’s anti-war statements.

The previous Pope, without ever naming names, had said “some experts believe what is happening in Gaza constitutes a genocide” and asked for an inquiry into the same. Many saw this as a direct attack on the Israeli side; it was, after all, Israeli actions and attacks causing these ‘genocide-like’ situations there.

 The statement was met with backlash from Israel and Jewish groups. Israel claimed it was the victim of a genocide, and calling Israel’s ‘right to defence’ by any other name is ‘singling out the Jewish state’. Pope Francis was long debated by people of his own community as well. The Guardian, in a 2017 article titled “The War Against Pope Francis” had claimed how his own flock were the most vocal against him; given his ‘woke’ thoughts like being pro-gay rights, and anti-war.

Pope Leo XIV also faced criticism by Catholics (especially Trump’s MAGA) after his statements on immigration and abortion. He, too, was ‘too woke’ for Conservatives in the USA.

 And yet, instead of smoothening his opinions, Leo has taken his anti-war stands at the forefront of all his social media posts as well as public speeches since the US-Israel war began on Iran. 

 Like his predecessor, Leo is also sympathetic towards the plight of Palestinians. For instance, when 93 civilians in Gaza, waiting in line for food, were targeted and killed by the IDF, the current Pope called ‘indiscriminate use of force’ a ‘barbarity’.

But since the beginning of the US-Israel war, the current Pope has spoken on horrors of war quite frequently. Such as the time when he requested media and journalists to show the ‘human horror’ of war, at a time when most of Western (and some in Indian media) were almost baying for blood, for war, for destruction of Iran. He said in a broadcast, “Always, but especially in the dramatic circumstances of war, such as those we are currently experiencing, the media must guard against the risk of becoming propaganda…It is up to you to show the sufferings that war always brings to the people; to show the face of war and to relate it through the eyes of the victims, so as not to transform it into a videogame.” 

 This statement came around the time the White House was intensifying its ‘meme warfare’ against Iran using video games’ clips to showcase assassinations like that of former Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or bombings like residential and power plant areas in Tehran. 

 Before the US began its attacks against Iran, before over 160 schoolgirls were killed by US missiles in Iran, the Pope was already warning of ‘war becoming vogue’. On January 9 this year, he said, “A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies. War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading."

This speech happened days after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Emphasising on war and terror and violence, he said today “peace is sought through weapons as a condition for asserting one's own dominion… This gravely threatens the rule of law, which is the foundation of all peaceful civil coexistence.”

 Coincidentally, this speech was delivered after Trump’s infamous interview with the New York Times, wherein he claimed he ‘doesn’t need international laws’.