US Archbishop states that Iran war is unjust

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America's most senior Catholic military cleric has expressed serious reservations about Donald Trump's war on Iran, clearly stating that it does not meet the Catholic Church's moral criteria for a just war.

In an interview with Ed O'Keefe on CBS News 'Face the Nation', which was televised on Easter Sunday, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, which oversees more than 200 Catholic priests serving as chaplains in the United States military, said the administration's justification rested on the threat of nuclear weapons - which Iran does not possess.

Asked directly whether the conflict is justified, Broglio said: "Under just war theory, no," arguing that the war targets a potential nuclear threat rather than an actual one.

The Archbishop also called Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's invocations of Jesus Christ to justify the war "problematic."

"It's hard to cast this war as something that would be sponsored by the Lord," he said, stating that Jesus "brought a message of peace."

Broglio advised Catholic troops caught between military duty and personal conscience to "do as little harm as you can, and preserve innocent lives."

Austen Ivereigh, journalist, commentator and papal biographer, told ICN: "Archbishop Broglio's comments carry a special weight because he is the most senior chaplain, as it were, to the US armed forces. He was also until recently, president of the US bishops' conference. In declaring that this war cannot be reconciled with Catholic teaching, he adds his voice to that of Cardinal Robert McElroy, Archbishop of Washington, DC, who has said the same in no uncertain terms.

"In the wake of Pope Leo's words this Easter, there can be no doubt, now, where the US Church stands. Unlike the 2003 Iraq invasion, which was strongly opposed by John Paul II but justified by some senior Catholics, among them bishops, the Iran débacle seems to galvanized a united Catholic opposition. This feels like a new chapter, especially in contrast with the Christian Zionist support for the war from evangelicals around the Trump administration. On migration and war, at least, it can safely be said now that the Church is part of the resistance to Trump."

Watch the televised interview here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLeykxu28o0

Read the full transcript of Archbishop Broglio's interview with Ed O'Keefe: www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/transcript-archbishop-timothy-broglio-on-face-the-nation-with-margaret-brennan-april-5-2026/ar-AA204l31