Pope Leo has said God ignores the prayers of leaders who wage war and have “hands full of blood”, in an apparent rebuke to the Trump administration. “This is our God: Jesus, king of peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” he told tens of thousands of worshippers. The pope cited a Bible passage in which Jesus upbraided a disciple who used a sword to try to repel soldiers who came to arrest him. “He revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence. In his homily on Sunday, the pope lamented that Christians in the region may not be able to celebrate Easter.

Source: The Guardian March 29, 2026 16:01 UTC