Pope Leo says Christians who start wars should go to confession

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March 13, 2026 9:12 AM EDT

Pope Leo XIV waves on the day he holds the weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY, ‌March 13 (Reuters) - ​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.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by ‌Sharon Singleton)


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