US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, an evangelical Christian, has used religious language throughout the war with Iran, drawing criticism in the West — including from the pope. About three weeks ago, Hegseth called on Americans to kneel daily and pray for military victory “in the name of Jesus Christ.”
On Thursday, Pope Leo XIV addressed the issue again, speaking at St. John Lateran Basilica ahead of Easter. Without naming Hegseth, he said the Christian mission is often distorted by a “desire for domination, completely at odds with the way of Jesus.”
Since the war began, the pope has called for an end to the fighting and a return to dialogue between the Trump administration and Tehran. In this week’s sermon, he added: “We tend to see ourselves as powerful when we dominate. God has given us an example — not how to rule, but how to liberate; not how to destroy life, but how to give it.”
Leo XIV, an American, is the first pope born in North America. He has addressed the intersection of religion and war before, saying in a late March sermon that Jesus “does not heed the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
A New York Times report noted that during his first year as pope, Leo has sought to avoid direct involvement in US politics and refrained from confronting the White House. Instead, he has acted indirectly, including encouraging US bishops to support migrants amid Trump administration deportation policies.
Hegseth bears a tattoo of the Jerusalem cross on his chest and the words “Deus Vult” — a Crusader battle cry meaning “God wills it” — on his arm. In his 2020 book American Crusade, he described the separation of church and state as “a left-wing myth.” He recently said the United States “remains a Christian nation in its DNA, if we can preserve it.”
The British newspaper The Independent reported that Hegseth views the conflict not only as a political dispute but as a cosmic struggle between good and evil, in which weapons serve as instruments of divine will. Historians and military legal experts cited in the report warned that his insistence that God stands with the United States against Iran could have serious consequences.
They said his rhetoric risks undermining the constitutional separation of church and state, alienating non-Christian service members and escalating an already severe conflict with a fundamentalist Islamic regime. “He is making it clear that this is Jesus versus Muhammad — this is unprecedented,” said Michael Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
Responding to the criticism, Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson said Hegseth, like millions of Americans, is a proud Christian, noting that US wartime leaders such as George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt also expressed their faith by praying for troops or encouraging religious practice. She added that calling on Americans to pray for service members is not controversial.
First published: 10:30, 04.04.26