Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa says the use of God’s name to justify war is a grave sin, stressing that God is present with those who suffer and die in conflict, not with those who exploit religion for political ends. Source: OSV News.
“The abuse and manipulation of God’s name to justify this and any other war is the gravest sin we can commit at this time,” the prelate said. “War is first and foremost political and has very material interests, like most wars.”
Speaking via video link from Jerusalem at a March 15 webinar organised by the International Oasis Foundation, Cardinal Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, warned against what he described as “pseudo-religious language.”
“We must do everything we can to leave no room for this pseudo-religious language, which speaks not of God, but of ourselves,” he said, speaking publicly for the first time since the United States and Israel-Iran war broke out February 28.
His remarks were published first by the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions’ AsiaNews agency on Monday.
The organiser of the webinar, the Italian Oasis Foundation, is a Catholic organisation based in Milan and dedicated to fostering mutual understanding and dialogue between Christians and Muslims.
Responding to remarks by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who cited Psalm 144 during a March 10 Pentagon briefing, Cardinal Pizzaballa said believers must reject attempts to frame the conflict in religious terms.
“There are no new crusades,” he said.
“If God is present in this war, He is among those who are dying, who are suffering, who are in pain, who are oppressed in various ways, throughout the Middle East,” the patriarch said.
“This conflict has religious connotations, but they are manipulations: those who wish to bring religion into it exploit the name of God,” he underlined.
Cardinal Pizzaballa also referred to repeated appeals for peace by Pope Leo XIV, acknowledging they are unlikely to be heeded.
“We know that Leo XIV’s appeals will fall on deaf ears,” he said, “but we must continue to speak the truth. Information is a weapon in this conflict.”
FULL STORY
Cardinal Pizzaballa: Using God’s name to justify war is ‘the gravest sin’ (OSV News)
