by Gavin Ashenden, Christian Today
When Pete Hegseth invoked the wrath of God against the Iranians, it caused alarm to many people who were politically left of his own brand of evangelical Republicanism. One of the people triggered by it now seems to have been the Pope.
On Palm Sunday, he offered a homily which rebuked politicians who had blood on their hands. Commentators, who included me, would immediately ask whether or not the Pope was getting involved in the foreign policy issues that governed the Iranian war.
I, at one point, thought that there might just be a little bit of wiggle room – that he was annunciating principles of geopolitical Catholic ethics rather than rebuking the American administration.
It looks as though I was wrong.
Suddenly, today, a spat of words has broken out between President Trump and Pope Leo, and apart from intensifying antagonism and misunderstanding, it is not easy to see what good will come out of it.
President Trump has his own style of communication. It is full of provocative aggression, hyperbole, and full-on confrontation. It is how he has done deals the whole of his life. He creates outrage and apoplexy in his opponents. This very often has the effect of wrong-footing them. It has worked very well for him.
A phrase has even been coined in response to those who take him too seriously – Trump Derangement Syndrome.
One of the questions we have to ask ourselves is whether or not the Pope has a moral and public duty to comment on President Trump’s tasteless, aggressive, but often effective hyperbole.