Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, has commented on US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth invoking God and reading scripture during his press briefings on the US and Israeli war against Iran.
During one briefing last week, Hegseth read from Psalm 144. “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle,” he said. The US war chief, author of a book titled “American Crusade,” also said in an interview with CBS News that the “providence of our almighty God” was protecting US troops engaged in the war.
Pizzaballa was asked about Hegseth’s behavior during a virtual event hosted by the International Oasis Foundation on the war raging across the Middle East. “The abuse and manipulation of God’s name to justify this and any other war is the gravest sin we can commit at this time,” Pizzaballa said at the webinar, according to Vatican News.
“War is first and foremost political and has very material interests, like most wars. We must do everything we can to leave no room for this pseudo-religious language, which speaks not of God, but of ourselves,” he added.
Pizzaballa said that “as believers … we need to say that no, there are no new crusades. If God is present in this war, He is among those who are dying, who are suffering, who are in pain, who are oppressed in various ways, throughout the Middle East.”
The Catholic leader added that he was “not saying that on one side or the other this conflict has religious connotations, but there are manipulations: those who wish to bring religion into it exploit the name of God.”
Pope Leo XIV and Catholic leaders in the US have been outspoken in their opposition to the war and continue to call for peace in the region.
At the webinar, Pizzaballa also lamented the fact that the war in Iran has taken attention away from the situation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza, which he has visited several times since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel and the start of Israel’s genocidal war.
“There is no longer a problem of hunger, but there are still 2 million displaced people, deprived of everything; 80% of the Strip is still destroyed, and no reconstruction has begun; 36 hospitals are partially operational, but medicines are lacking, even basic antibiotics,” he said, referring to the situation in Gaza.
“People are literally living in the sewers; the images cannot convey the smells. It is impossible to understand how and when this dramatic situation will be resolved: the Board of Peace has not yet understood what it should do. And in any case, it is a sort of vicious circle: if Hamas does not hand over its weapons, Israel will not withdraw; Hamas will not hand over its weapons unless Israel withdraws. Everything remains at a standstill,” he added.
