Following yesterday morning’s call by Pope Leo XIV for an immediate ceasefire in the assault on Iran, various U.S. Catholic officials have weighed in on the immorality of recent developments. For example, Archbishop of Washington Cardinal Robert McElroy called the war morally unjustifiable. Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich said it was “sickening” how the White House was splicing video game imagery into its social media messaging about the war.
And while Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin rejected Washington’s defense that the U.S. was conducting a “preventive war,” he stated that the Holy See was, nevertheless, not cutting off dialogue with the U.S. He stated: “The Holy See speaks with everyone and, when necessary, we speak also with the Americans, with the Israelis and show them what to us are the solutions.”
On March 16, the American-born Pope Leo used the occasion of an address to Italian broadcasters to rise to the occasion, in the difficult circumstances of wartime, to report the reality of war and to avoid becoming a propaganda mouthpiece for the warmongers. He explained: “Always, but especially in the dramatic circumstances of war, such as those we are currently experiencing, the media must guard against the risk of becoming propaganda. And the task of journalists, in verifying the news, so as not to become a mouthpiece for those in power, becomes even more urgent and delicate—I would say essential.
