The Trump regime at the helm in the United States of America, which along with Israel is currently engaged in a war with Iran has spent much of the ongoing week engaged in a war of words with Pope Leo XIV, the head of the Catholic Church.
The feud, which stems from a call for peace that the supreme pontiff made, easily ranks as one of the most bizarre exchanges between an American head of state -- or any head of state -- and a religious leader -- especially one that commands the respect of more than 1.4 billion Catholics across the world.
It must be recorded that the Pope giving a call to peace at a time of war, is not an unusual occurrence. The religious head of the Catholic church has a history for speaking up in times of conflict -- no matter where it is taking place in the world. His predecessor Pope Francis was especially vocal in the conflict in Sudan or in Israel’s pummeling of Gaza, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and many of the other small and big conflicts. In fact, as the Vatican news site notes, papal condemnation of war and conflict goes as far back as World War I and has continued for more than a century.
Such a tirade deserves to be -- and was -- rightfully condemned not merely because taking a moral position is something that the pope is expected to do, but more than that the tirade accused the Pope of being "weak on crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy" something that makes even less sense every time you try and make sense of it.
It appears that the Pope’s message has touched a raw nerve with a president already glancing over his shoulder with a deeply unpopular war that he walked into completely underestimating the capability of his opponent.
It is a war that has cost lives -- lives of civilians and especially children at the hand of the US and Israel who appear to have deliberately targeted a school in Iran with a missile strike. It is a methodology that Israel has been using.
Israel’s attacks have been repeatedly shown to have a high number of casualties among civilians, children and journalists -- vulnerable categories that are otherwise given special concessions as per the conventions mutually respected by warring countries.
It is only right that the Pope, who speaks and appeals to the conscience of people, speaks up against these ‘unjust’ wars of choice that are being waged, seemingly on a whim, with little care, or worse, deliberate targeting of civilian lives and civilian infrastructure.
Leaders around the world, including, notably the leadership in Iran, have condemned the Trump’s remarks and those of his cabinet and close circle who have all joined in chorus, seemingly on cue, to pile on the Pope for his remarks.
Voices calling for peace and calm must never be drowned out or much less silenced, more so when they come from a religious figure. Instead, what the world needs right now is to pay careful attention to what Pope Leo XIV said in his message delivered on Thursday: “The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters.” “But 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.”
