During a high-profile visit to Barcelona’s iconic Sagrada Familia basilica on Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV delivered a sharply worded homily that doubled down on his longstanding criticism of the Trump administration’s foreign policy, drawing a clear line between Christian faith and the promotion of armed conflict. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of worshippers that included Spanish King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, the pontiff laid out an uncompromising moral position: “We cannot believe in Jesus and promote war. We cannot believe in Jesus and kill the innocent.” He extended this moral framework to the global migration crisis, arguing that any self-identified Christian cannot turn away from people fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries.
The core of Pope Leo’s latest rebuke centers on the U.S.- and Israeli-initiated war against Iran. He has previously dismissed the centuries-old concept of a “just war” — which the Trump administration has repeatedly invoked to justify its military campaign against Tehran, framed as an effort to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons — as an outdated idea. U.S. Vice President JD Vance, a recent convert to Catholicism, has leaned heavily on the just war argument in public pushback against the pope, urging him to exercise greater caution when weighing in on theological and political matters.
This is not the first public clash between the Vatican and the current U.S. administration over the Iran conflict. Back in April, Pope Leo condemned Donald Trump’s open threat to destroy Iran as “truly unacceptable,” and directly called on American citizens to pressure their elected representatives to prioritize peace negotiations over military escalation. In response, Trump took to social media to attack the pontiff, labeling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Pope Leo pushed back at the time, noting he had an unshakable moral duty to speak out against injustice and war.
The criticism did not end there. During an interview held just one month ago, Trump renewed his attacks, falsely claiming that Pope Leo supports Iran gaining a nuclear weapons capability. “I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people,” Trump told the outlet. When reporters asked Pope Leo this week to respond to these recent remarks, the pontiff once again stood firm in his position. He reiterated that the core mission of the Catholic Church is to preach the message of peace laid out in the Gospel, and invited critics to air their disagreements honestly. “If anyone wishes to criticise me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so truthfully,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Throughout his papacy, the pontiff has established himself as one of the most high-profile global critics of ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Beyond his opposition to the Iran war, he has consistently called for European and North American nations to extend a “respectful welcome” to migrants and refugees, and push for policy measures that support their smooth integration into host communities.