The Catholic Archbishop for the US Military Services has said the US-Israeli war against Iran is unjust, according to Catholic teaching, as Catholic leaders in the US, Rome, and the Middle East continue to criticize the conflict.
Archbishop Timothy Broglio made the comments in an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that was recorded on Friday and aired on Sunday. He was asked if the conflict could be justified under the Catholic Church’s Just War Theory, which traces its roots to St. Augustine of Hippo, who died in the fifth century.
“I would think under the Just War Theory, it is not [just],” Broglio said. He added that there was a “threat with nuclear arms” but that the war was “compensating for a threat before the threat is actually realized,” though there was no evidence either before the June 2025 war or the current conflict that Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons.
Just War Theory is codified in the latest Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992), which calls on all Catholics to “work for the avoidance of war” and teaches that war is justified only in self-defense. It states that governments cannot be “denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed,” and outlines four strict conditions that must be met:
- The damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain
- All other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective
- There must be serious prospects of success
- The use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated
The Catechism adds that the “power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition,” and since World War I, popes have decried the destructive power of modern weapons.
Broglio said that he would “line myself up with Pope Leo, who has been urging for negotiation.” Since the outbreak of the war, Pope Leo XIV, the first US-born pontiff, has made repeated appeals for peace and said last week that he hoped President Trump was “looking for an off-ramp” and “looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence.”
Broglio was also asked about US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s efforts to portray the US war as one sanctioned by God. “It’s a little bit problematic in the sense that the Lord Jesus certainly brought a message of peace, and also, I think war is always a last resort,” he said.
The archbishop added that he believes it’s hard to “cast this war as something that would be sponsored by the Lord.” Broglio was asked what advice he would give to a Catholic service member involved in the war, and said, “I guess my counsel would be to do as little harm as you can, and to try and preserve innocent lives.”
Broglio has previously spoken out against the US bombing campaign targeting alleged drug boats in the waters of Latin America and has also said that it could be “morally acceptable to disobey” an order to attack Greenland.
