(LifeSiteNews) — Speaking at an inter-religious gathering in Cameroon, Pope Leo XIV amped up his thinly-veiled rhetoric against President Donald Trump and the current U.S. military operation in Iran, claiming that “The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants.”  

While his comments were directed at the political reality facing the western African nation, they were seen in a broader context as aimed at the U.S. and Israel. 

“Blessed are the peacemakers!” said Pope Leo, seemingly about to quote Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, but then he added his own words: “but woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”

His comments in Cameroon have again raised eyebrows concerning his interpretation of Just War Theory – an interpretation that is at odds with Church teaching.

NEW – Pope Leo XIV: “Jesus told us, blessed are the peacemakers, but woe to those who manipulate religion in the very name of God for their own military, economic, or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.” pic.twitter.com/oMJGafg18A

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“God does not bless any conflict,” asserted the pontiff last week. “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.”

“Leo XIV has not challenged the Iran war from the perspective of Catholic just war theory, but by rejecting the legitimacy of all wars, not just in the present but in the past also,” explained LifeSiteNews’ Matthew McCusker. 

“Without nuance or caveat, Leo has stated that (i) Our Lord “rejects war,” (ii) that no one can ‘justify war’ with reference to Him, and (iii) that ‘He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war,’” noted McCusker. “These positions are all false, and contrary to the teaching and practice of the Catholic Church.” 

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) felt the need to step in to attempt to reconcile the pope’s confounding pronouncements on war with Church teaching. 

Bishop James Massa, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine, issued the following statement:

“For over a thousand years, the Catholic Church has taught just war theory and it is that long tradition the Holy Father carefully references in his comments on war. A constant tenet of that thousand-year tradition is a nation can only legitimately take up the sword ‘in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2308). That is, to be a just war it must be a defense against another who actively wages war, which is what the Holy Father actually said: ‘He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.’

“When Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ. The consistent teaching of the Church is insistent that all people of good will must pray and work toward lasting peace while avoiding the evils and injustices that accompany all wars.”

Bishop Massa’s remarks have faced some criticism. Writing for First Things, Richard Cassleman said that the prelate’s claim that a just war must only be defensive is “incorrect.”

“Self-defense against an enemy actively engaged in war is the easiest justification for war, but it is by no means the only justification,” he wrote. “Augustine and Aquinas speak of avenging and punishing grave wrongs against those who have committed a fault, not merely defending against an imminent attack. Modern preoccupation with the strict defensiveness of war comes much later than even Francisco Suárez and Francisco de Vitoria in the sixteenth century, culminating with twentieth-century international law.”

Indeed, in condemning all war as incompatible with God’s will, Leo has broken with Scripture, Church Tradition, and centuries of Catholic just war doctrine.

“Leo XIV rejects the teaching of the Catholic Church on the legitimacy of waging war,” wrote McCusker. 

“In doing so he rejects doctrines which have been revealed by God in the divinely inspired Scriptures, and which have been proposed for our belief by the universal and ordinary magisterium of the Church,” added McCusker.