Pope Leo says Christians who start wars should go to confession

By Joshua McElwee

Pope Leo suggested on Friday that Christian political leaders who start wars should go to confession and assess whether they are following the teachings of Jesus, without naming any specific leaders or conflicts.

"Do those Christians who bear grave responsibility in armed conflicts have the humility and courage to make a serious examination of conscience and to go to confession?" the pope asked in a speech to priests.

While Leo did not name anyone on Friday, in recent days he has been ramping up calls for an end to the ongoing Iran war, which began with joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on February 28.

U.S. President Donald Trump was raised in the Presbyterian Christian faith. Several of his top deputies, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are Catholic.

Jesus taught his followers to be non-violent. The Catholic Church generally opposes war.

For centuries, the Church has evaluated conflicts according to the just war tradition, which uses a series of criteria to evaluate whether a conflict can be considered morally justifiable, for example repelling an unjust invasion.

Washington, D.C. Cardinal Robert McElroy said earlier this week that the U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran were "not morally legitimate" because they did not meet the Church's just war criteria.

Leo was speaking on Friday to a Vatican conference on the practice of confession, in which Catholics admit their sins to a priest and ask God's forgiveness.

The pope said that the ritual helps individual Catholics and promotes peace and unity in society.