Pope Leo XIV said something last month that needs to be heard, examined, and answered honestly. Not politically, but biblically.
The first American pope in history stood before tens of thousands in St. Peter's Square and declared that Jesus "does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war." He called for an end to the conflict in Iran. He warned against the weaponization of God's name to justify military campaigns. He cried out for peace.
On several of those points, he is right. Completely and without qualification.
Let me start there.
When political leaders reach for Scripture to sanctify bombs, they are not honoring God. They are using Him. And the Church has a shared obligation to say so, loudly and without apology.
Psalm 89:14 says it plainly: righteousness and justice are the foundation of God's throne, and love and faithfulness go before Him.
Not power. Not military superiority. Not victory. Righteousness and justice, love and faithfulness. That is the framework we should be bringing to this moment. On that framework, the Pope and I are in agreement.
Blessed are the peacemakers. Jesus said so in Matthew 5:9. Not blessed are the powerful. Not blessed are the victorious. The peacemakers. A world consumed by war, by escalating casualties, by suffering Christians across the Middle East who could not observe Holy Week in peace, desperately needs voices willing to speak that truth from the highest platforms available. Pope Leo has one of those platforms. He used it.
But I cannot leave the conversation there. Because the specific line that has traveled around the world, that God "does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war," requires a careful, respectful, and necessary biblical examination.
With deep respect for the office and the man, that statement goes further than what Scripture allows.
The Bible is not a pacifist document. It is a document full of soldiers who prayed and were heard. David, a man of war, was called a man after God's own heart. He cried out to God before every battle and God answered. Joshua fell on his face before the Lord at Jericho and heaven responded. Likewise, the Psalms are saturated with warriors seeking God in moments of conflict and danger.
Psalm 91 promises that God will be a refuge and fortress to those who call upon Him. There is no asterisk. No exemption for soldiers defending their spouses, their children, and their community.
And today, in bases and battlefields across the world, young men and women bow their heads before a mission not to glorify war but to ask God to bring them home. To protect the person beside them. To give them courage in a moment of fear. Are we really to tell them that God has closed His ears because of the uniform they wear?
That is not the God of the Bible. That is not the God who told Joshua, "I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you." That is not the God who met soldiers throughout Scripture, not with rejection but with presence.
The rightful target of rebuke is the weaponization of faith by political leaders who are hostile to free and democratic nations. Of course, I’m talking about Iran — a nation ruled by hostile, antisemitic leaders who have on several occasions framed a military campaign as a divine mandate. That deserves every prophetic word the Pope has spoken and more. But condemning the soldier who prays is not the same as condemning the leader who exploits faith. Those are two different people. They should not receive the same word.
Justice without mercy is brutality. Mercy without justice is sentimentality. As Christians, we are called to hold both. Psalm 89:14 does not give us the option to choose one and abandon the other.
What’s more, in Romans 13:1, we read, “There is no authority except that which God has established.” We’re also told to submit to governing authorities (Romans 13:5). That means God himself has ordained for rulers to lead nations — nations that are expected to defend and protect their people.
So here is what I believe this moment requires from the Church.
We must call for peace without abandoning those who serve. We must speak truth to political power without politicizing the Gospel. We must do all of it together because when the church speaks in a dozen contradictory voices, it will not move anyone toward reconciliation.
The right response to this moment is not condemnation from a distance. It is engagement up close. The pastoral conversation that does not make the front page but changes the heart of the person in the room.
That is what peacemakers do.
Rev. Samuel Rodriguez is the author of Fresh Oil, Holy Fire, New Wine, lead pastor of New Season, one of America's most influential megachurches, and president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC), which represents millions of Christians worldwide.
