Pope Leo XIV Declares God Rejects War During Palm Sunday Mass

Before tens of thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square on Palm Sunday, Pope Leo XIV declared that no one can use God to justify war, calling Jesus the "king of peace" who rejects violence and stands with those who are oppressed.

"Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war," Leo said during Sunday's homily, his words carrying particular weight as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran entered its second month and Russia pressed its ongoing campaign in Ukraine.

The declaration was the most public iteration of a message Leo had been building across several weeks. On March 15, during his fifth and final parish visit in the Diocese of Rome before Palm Sunday, he told congregants at the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that "God cannot be enlisted by darkness." He added: "Rather, he always comes to bring light, hope and peace to humanity, and it is peace that must be sought by those who call upon him."

At that same parish Mass, Leo said those who invoke religion to wage war had crossed a grave line. "Some even go so far as to invoke God's name in these choices of death," he said, calling the belief that problems can be resolved through armed conflict "absurd." What the moment demanded, he said, was "unceasing dialogue for peace."

Two weeks into U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and resumed Israeli military action in Lebanon, Leo addressed the humanitarian toll directly. "For two weeks now, the people of the Middle East have been suffering the horrific violence of war," he said. "Thousands of innocent people have been killed, and countless others have been forced to flee their homes. I renew my prayerful closeness to all who have lost loved ones in the attacks, which have struck schools, hospitals and residential areas."

Vatican News noted that Leo's rhetoric had escalated around the Iran conflict, moving from relatively restrained condemnation in the war's opening weeks to an explicit call for a ceasefire and direct lamentation of civilian deaths.

The day after the parish visit, Leo turned to media accountability. Speaking March 16 to staff of TG2, Italy's state television news program, he urged journalists to "show the face of war and to relate it through the eyes of the victims, so as not to transform it into a video game," and warned that the press must "guard against the risk of becoming propaganda."

Also on March 16, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Leo to discuss what the Vatican described as "the alarming developments in the conflict in the Middle East and the living conditions of the Palestinian people." The Holy See said Leo "reaffirmed the Holy See's commitment to achieving peace through political and diplomatic dialogue, as well as through full respect for international law."

On Palm Sunday, Leo prayed specifically for Christians in the Middle East and described the sacrament of reconciliation as a "laboratory of unity," fostering reconciliation among people. By framing the Iran conflict and Ukraine as affronts to the very nature of God, Leo positioned the Holy See as a moral counterweight to any government seeking religious sanction for its military campaigns.