Trump and Vance Are Attacking the Pope Over War — And Losing the Argument
America’s 3 most powerful men — Trump, Vance, and Johnson — launched attacks on Pope Leo XIV, who repeatedly called for peace and spoke against war, challenging U.S. and Israeli military campaigns in Iran.
Pope Leo declared Jesus does not hear prayers of “those who wage war.” Speaker Johnson, an evangelical, fired back — invoking Just War Doctrine to challenge the Pope’s theological standing on the U.S.-Iran conflict.
Vance, Catholic for only 7 years, warned Pope Leo to be more “careful” on theology. Bishop Massa fired back with a rare public statement: the Pope preaches the Gospel — he doesn’t merely offer opinions.
Just War Theory predates Christianity — Cicero first theorized it. St. Augustine shaped Catholic theology around it in the 5th century. Aquinas later split it into 2 sets: rules for entering war, rules for waging it.
Catholic Catechism 2309 defines 4 strict criteria: serious proven damage, all peaceful options exhausted, realistic success prospects, and proportionality — military force must not produce evils worse than the aggression it seeks to end.
Bishop Massa openly called recent U.S. military actions “very questionable” under just war criteria. Dean Capizzi warned: everyone believes their war is justified — but just war theory can, and does, declare one side wrong.
