WASHINGTON (TNND) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday defended the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran against Pope Leo XIV’s criticism, amid President Trump’s ongoing feud with the pontiff.
“The pope’s gonna do his thing, that’s fine,” Hegseth told reporters at a Pentagon briefing, The Hill reported. “We know what our mission is, we know what authority we have. We’re very clear about that, we follow that — the orders of the president.”
“We’ve got lawyers all over the place looking at what we’re doing and why we’re doing it and giving us every authority necessary under the Constitution and under our laws to execute across the spectrum,” he added.
U.S. Catholic bishops and Vatican officials have said that the war against Iran does not meet “just war” standards, which requires war to be a last resort, not a preemptive strike.
The head of the Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, said earlier this month that under the just war theory, the Iran war “is not” righteous.
Leo, who is the first American-born pope, also criticized the war and called for an end to the conflict, saying, “God does not bless any conflict.”
Trump posted on Truth Social that the pope is “WEAK on crime and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Following pushback from his comments, Trump said he has “a right to disagree with the pope.”
“Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician,” Trump posted. “It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!”
Leo said that he has “no fear” of the Trump administration.