Arellano: Pope Leo's brave stance against Trump - BERITAJA

A warfare for the psyche of the world is happening correct now that’s consecutive retired of the Bible — and I’m not conscionable talking about the Middle East.

In 1 area are President Trump and his minions, who insist that everything they do is divinely mandated. They person consistently invoked a convulsive type of God arsenic they deport undocumented immigrants, try to make the United States whiter, rip up long-standing treaties pinch allies, rainfall down bombs for illustration a biblical plague on expected narco boats and choke nations they deem a threat aliases whose resources they covet.

They’re the ones who speech belief leaders on what Jesus stood for, demanding blessings for Trump’s actions — aliases else.

Just cheque retired the caller allegations successful The Free Press that elder defense officials dressed down the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.S. successful January complete Pope Leo XIV’s deficiency of enthusiasm for Trump’s imperialist ambitions. Or Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, he of the tattoos hailing the humor thirst of the Crusades (another Middle Eastern everlastingly warfare that the “civilized” broadside lost), who compared the rescue of a downed American aviator successful Iran complete Easter play to the resurrection of Jesus.

It’s a playbook consecutive retired of the Book of Revelations, which describes a Beast successful the End Times pinch “a rima speaking awesome things and blasphemies” successful its quest to clasp dominion complete the earth.

In the different area of this existential conflict is an existent man of God: Pope Leo XIV.

Rather than cower earlier a despot who makes the Pharaoh successful the Old Testament look arsenic unchangeable and benignant arsenic St. Francis, the first American pope has resisted Trump for illustration a protester astatine a “No Kings” rally. He has yet to denounce by sanction anyone successful the president’s sordid orbit — but Pope Leo has returned to their actions again and again successful his first twelvemonth arsenic caput of the world’s 1.4 cardinal Catholics.

He began his papacy by greeting a cheering crowd pinch “Peace beryllium pinch you all” — what Jesus told his disciples aft his Resurrection and a brilliant, biblical measurement to telegraph wherever he stands successful our bellicose times.

On Palm Sunday a fewer weeks ago, the pontiff proclaimed during Mass successful St. Peter’s Square that God “does not perceive to the prayers of those who costs war” — a not-so-subtle rebuke to Hegseth, who prayed soon aft the U.S. launched the Iran war for “every information [to] find its mark” and for “overwhelming unit of action against those who merit nary mercy.”

For his first Easter message, Pope Leo wrote, “Let those who person the powerfulness to unleash wars take peace! Not a bid imposed by force, but done dialogue!”

Meanwhile, President Trump told a newsman that God supports the demolition he’s inflicting connected Iran because “God is good. God wants to spot group taken attraction of.”

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks to reporters astatine the Pentagon, July 16, 2025, successful Washington.

(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Associated Press)

According to the Free Press article, the Vatican declined an invitation from Vice President JD Vance for Pope Leo to sojourn the U.S., for fearfulness that Trump would usage him arsenic a governmental pawn. Instead, the man calved successful Chicago arsenic Robert Prevost plans to walk July 4 — America’s 250th day — connected a Mediterranean land that has long served arsenic a gateway for migrants trying to make it to Europe.

Critics will impeach Pope Leo of Trump Derangement Syndrome and telephone him peculiarly short-sighted, since he stands athwart the desires of galore American Catholics.

Though he isn’t Catholic, Trump has favored Catholicism acold supra immoderate different mainline Christian denomination, from acknowledging feast days to packing his management and the Supreme Court pinch adherents successful a measurement that moreover Joe Biden — a lifelong Catholic — ne'er did.

About 55% of Catholics voted for Trump successful 2024, per the Pew Research Center. A study past twelvemonth by The Catholic Project astatine The Catholic University of America recovered “a clear generational displacement distant from wide self-identification” among younger priests. Dioceses crossed the state are reporting the highest magnitude of converts successful decades, galore of them drawn successful by orthodox Catholic influencers.

But Trump’s clasp of Catholicism, for illustration everything other successful his life, has been conditional connected fealty to him. His management pulled tens of millions of national costs from Catholic charities because they assisted migrants sloppy of ineligible position — thing the American Catholic religion has done for complete a century. Vance, himself a Catholic convert, accused bishops of being “worried about their bottommost line” for daring to knock the move and his boss’ deportation Leviathan.

The Free Press besides reported that Trump’s lackeys invoked the Avignon Papacy — erstwhile 14th period French kings exiled a succession of popes from the Vatican and made them their puppets — during their browbeating of the Vatican ambassador.

Re-litigating history is an obsession of the Trump regime, truthful bringing up a medieval section amounted to a threat to Leo to style up — aliases else.

That’s what makes Pope Leo’s stance against a modern-day Babylon moreover braver. A pope’s main domiciled is to carnivore witnesser to the words of Christ, who said acold much about taking attraction of the meek and turning the different feature than he did about waging war.

The champion popes, from John XXIII to John Paul II, cognize that their words guidelines arsenic a situation for each people, believers and not, to create a amended world that paves the measurement for the world to come. Trump wages warfare for himself; Pope Leo urges america to guidelines for thing different than ourselves.

At this constituent successful his reign, Trump is simply a dormant ringer for the Antichrist, described successful the Second Book of Thessalonians arsenic a “man of misdeed ... the boy of perdition who opposeth and exalteth himself supra all.”

Pope Leo would ne'er qualify his guidance to Trump successful specified apocalyptic terms, of course. But his stance against the president’s tyranny is simply a telephone to action successful the aforesaid vein arsenic John Paul II’s exhortation to the free world to reason the Soviet empire.

“Let america wantonness each desire for conflict, domination, and power,” Pope Leo stated connected Easter, “and implore the Lord to assistance his bid to a world ravaged by wars and marked by a hatred and indifference that make america consciousness powerless successful the look of evil.”

Amen, amen, amen.