Pope Leo suggests Christian leaders who start wars go to confession
(CNN) – Pope Leo XIV has suggested that Christian leaders who are responsible for wars should go to confession, without naming any conflict or individual specifically.
“Do those Christians who bear serious responsibility in armed conflicts have the humility and courage to make a serious examination of conscience and to go to confession?” the first U.S.-born pope said during a speech at the Vatican today.
Although the pope didn’t name anyone directly, he has repeatedly appealed for peace in Iran and the Middle East, describing the situation as “deeply disturbing.” In January, Leo lamented that “war is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading.”
The pope’s latest remarks come as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth framed the US military intervention as supported by God, while some Christian leaders were recently seen praying over President Donald Trump in the Oval Office during the Iran war. Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are Catholics.
Meanwhile, prominent figures in the U.S. Catholic Church have spoken out against the Iran war.
Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago has described a video posted on the White House’s X account about the war as “sickening,” while Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington, D.C., said the U.S.-Israeli strikes are “not morally legitimate” as they don’t meet the criteria in Catholic teaching for a just war.
Leo’s speech was delivered to a group of clergy and trainee priests who had gathered in Rome for a course on confession, known as the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
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