A high-profile Catholic clergyman in the U.S. military has criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for invoking Jesus to rally support for the war with Iran.
“It’s a little bit problematic in the sense that the Lord Jesus certainly brought a message of peace and also, I think war is always a last resort,” Timothy Broglio, who leads the Archdiocese for the Military Services, said during an interview on Face the Nation that will air on Easter.
Broglio said that while he may not know all the details of what led the Trump administration to strike Iran, “I do think that it’s hard to cast this war, you know, as something that would be sponsored by the Lord.”
The Daily Beast reached out to the Department of Defense for comment.
“I would line myself up with Pope Leo, who has been urging for negotiation,” he added.
Pope Leo, the first American pontiff, has offered an indirect critique of Hegseth after the secretary called on Americans to pray every day for a military success “in the name of Jesus Christ.”
“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,” the pope said earlier this week.
He added that Jesus “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
Hegseth has long blended militarism with Christianity. He has a tattoo of the Jerusalem cross, associated with the Crusades, and the words deus vult, or “God wills it,” on his biceps.
Though Hegseth is himself an Evangelical, two major leaders in the war effort, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are both Catholics.
Vance is releasing a new book, Communion, which centers on his spiritual journey and conversion to the faith. The Daily Beast reached out to his office for comment on the anti-war sentiment from the two prominent Catholics.
This is far from the first time a pontiff has weighed in on a foreign war. The late Pope Francis called Russia’s war against Ukraine a “senseless massacre.”
After the one-month anniversary of the war in Iran, Pope Leo said that hopefully President Trump was “looking for a way to… decrease the amount of violence, of bombing.”
