What someone chooses to focus on versus what they ignore reveals their values and priorities.This truism brings to mind the ongoing war of words between Pope Leo and President Donald Trump. Trump's portrayal of himself as some sort of Christ-like healer on social media was obviously hokey, but that misses the heart of the issue entirely.How did this controversy begin? US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sparked it with comments about the war involving Iran. Hegseth quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures, reading from the Psalmist: "Almighty God, who trains our hands for war and our fingers for battle, you who stirred the nations from the north against Babylon of old, making her land a desolation where none dwell: behold now the wicked, who rise against your justice and the peace of the righteous."Hegseth explicitly connected his invocation of divinity to the fact that the current Iranian regime operates from a Shiite Islamic eschatology that envisions Islamic ascendancy in its battle with the West.Pope Leo posted the following on X/Twitter, "God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples."The Pontiff clearly missed the point of Hegseth's comments. Modern Christian theology must finally abandon its prejudice and discomfort with military service. Soldiers perform honourable work on behalf of their community and nation, and many causes deserve fighting for..The church has mistaken passages that condemn private vengeance as somehow opposing all armed conflict for millennia. The early church largely opposed military service because the Roman Empire’s military rituals involved references to pagan cults. Some church fathers embraced radical pacifism, but the sensible among them recognized the necessity of armed national self-defence.The church must overcome its discomfort with those who exemplify duty and service. This institutional resistance ignores that throughout history, righteous military action has served as the necessary precondition for the very peace and stability that allows dialogue to flourish.Pope Leo's comments demonstrate moral abdication in the face of great evil. Blithely declaring "God does not bless any conflict" represents moral relativism that ignores religion's central gift: transcendent moral truth. The Pope naively declares that military action cannot create peace—only dialogue will. He is correct about the end goal, but those living on this side of Eden understand that evil forces do not come to dialogue on their own.A well-armed military must create the conditions for peace, just as we empower police to enforce law and sometimes use force to prevent greater harm. Just war theory recognizes that sometimes violence becomes necessary to prevent greater violence and protect the innocent.Hegseth glorifies neither battle nor bloodshed. He calls for divine protection for soldiers who put themselves in harm's way and seeks moral clarity. His invocation of scripture reminds both leaders and troops that their mission carries moral weight and divine accountability..The Pope reserves his time to condemn this US administration while remaining conspicuously silent on other conflicts. This is not ‘whataboutism' — it points out selective outrage that undermines his credibility as a universal moral voice. The systematic persecution of Christians in Nigeria, brutal suppression of religious freedom in China, and theocratic oppression in Iran receive far less papal attention than criticizing American military leaders who invoke their faith.The Pope responds to issues that media coverage primes us to find upsetting. He relishes taking jabs at the Trump administration while letting countless evil regimes off the hook for far worse violations of human dignity. His assumed moral authority makes his selective condemnation all the more problematic.This pattern reveals something troubling about contemporary religious leadership. When religious authorities focus criticism primarily on democratic nations defending themselves rather than actual perpetrators of systematic evil, they abdicate their responsibility to speak truth to power where it matters most.Listen to the Pope or don’t — your choice. But recognize that this religious authority figure carries his own blinders and prejudices, along with over a thousand years of institutional misunderstanding about armed conflict. His moral authority comes not from his office alone, but from the consistency and courage with which he applies universal moral principles — regardless of political fashion or popular opinion.Joseph Quesnel is a policy commentator based in Nova Scotia.
