BREAKING: Pope Leo XIV slams MAGA Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after his deranged speech to American generals, calling it “worrying” and criticizing his “Department of War” rebranding.
MAGA world is popping a gasket over this one…
“This way of speaking is worrying, because it shows each time an increase in tensions — this vocabulary, even shifting from ‘Minister of Defense’ to ‘Minister of War.’ Let’s hope it is only a way of speaking,” the pope told reporters in Italian, after he was asked about Hegseth’s demand for more “lethality.”
“Certainly, they have a style of government where they want to show strength, to put pressure, and we hope it works, but that there will not be war. One must always work for peace,” he added.
The rebranding of the Department of Defense as the “Department of War” has not been Congressionally approved, but Trump and Hegseth are acting as if it’s official. The name change is a pathetic attempt to throw red meat to a MAGA base that is easily distracted by cheap aesthetic flourishes. At the same time, it foretells an even greater willingness to use the U.S. military for imperialist violence — best demonstrated recently by the illegal, murderous strikes on boats in the Caribbean.
“A pope who spent his formative priestly years marching against war and for peace in Peru was never going to let a retired weekend Fox News host‑turned‑cabinet member drag the Church into a MAGA war hawk posture,” wrote former Democratic Congressional nominee Christopher Hale on his Substack “Letters from Leo.”
“When Leo reminded journalists that government ministers should be guardians of peace and not cheerleaders for war, he signaled that Catholic morality cannot be reduced to abortion politics while ignoring the human cost of bellicose nationalism,” Hale added.
Leo’s remarks about abortion went viral yesterday, because they fly squarely in the face of what so-called “Christian” Republicans want to believe about themselves.
“Someone who says, ‘I’m against abortion,’ but says ‘I’m in favor of the death penalty,’ is not really pro-life,” the pope. “Someone who says that, ‘I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants who are in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”
“I would ask, first and foremost, that there be greater respect for one another and that we search together, both as human beings, in that case as American citizens, or citizens of the state of Illinois, as well as Catholics, to say, ‘We need to really look closely at all of these ethical issues, and to find the way forward as a church,’” Leo added.
The world is lucky to have a pope like this at this moment in history. At a time when Republicans are aggressively working to bring about a Christian Nationalist America in which migrants are brutalized and dehumanized, healthcare is stripped down to the studs, wealth is funneled more and more to the rich, and state violence is wielded recklessly at home and abroad, it’s crucial that someone stand up for the true teachings of Jesus Christ.
Pope Leo is everything that these MAGA Christians pretend to be and that’s why they despise him.
Please retweet and ❤️ if you’re becoming a big fan of this pope!
