Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been weaponizing Christianity to justify the Iran war — carrying a Bible stamped with “Deus Vult” (the medieval Crusader battle cry meaning “God wills it”) and holding Pentagon prayer services where he asked God to grant soldiers “wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation received over 200 calls from active-duty service members across 50 installations reporting religious coercion. Multiple military commanders reportedly told troops the Iran operation was “God's divine plan.”
On Palm Sunday, March 29, 2026, Pope Leo XIV — the first American-born Pope — delivered a homily at St. Peter's Square widely interpreted as a direct rebuke. Quoting Isaiah, the Pope declared: “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: 'Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.'” He added: “This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war.”
Cardinal Pizzaballa echoed: “The abuse and manipulation of God's name to justify this and any other war is the gravest sin we can commit.”
The controversy is not the Pope's criticism — it's what he's criticizing: a Defense Secretary imposing religious justification on a military chain of command during an unauthorized war, with troops on the ground reporting coercion.