Parsing Pope Leo’s Plea for Peace

We will post the introduction and link to Pope Leo’s sermon from Palm Sunday, petitioning in pliant terms for peace. May all those involved in the conflict in Iran, across the Middle East, and across the world take his words to heart.

One question that stays with us before we do so, and which is making the rounds on the internet, is the Pope’s declaration:

Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood” (Is 1:15).

I don’t think it’s a universal truth – for all time, space and history – that God never listens to the ‘prayers of those who wage war’. After all, did not Moses, his arms outstretched in a cross, intercede for the Israelites as they battled the Amalekites? (cf., Exodus 17). And on this day in 1146, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux preached the Second Crusade in the presence of King Louis VII. For there is such a thing, at least in theory, as a just war, the conditions for which we have discussed in these pages, and may be found in the Catechism (par. 2309).

We may give some leeway here, for ‘waging war’ may be a qualifier for one initiating an unjust war of aggression and domination. Or perhaps in our current milieu, with every nation on Earth more or less unhinged from Christian truth, and weapons not only of mass destruction but of indiscriminate and automated killing, a just war is in practical terms nearly impossible. (But not quite impossible). After all, God can hear the prayers of some, even in most unjust of conditions, and will even hear the supplication of sinners. What the Pope seems to mean is that God does not hear petitions made for unjust and immoral reasons, following Isaiah, whom he quotes, and Saint James’ warning that we pray, and are not heard, for we pray to according to our disordered passions. The current conflict in Iran seems a near-unmitigated immoral debacle and tragedy, and I think the prayer God wants to hear are prayers for peace and cessation of hostilities.

Anon, here is what Leo preached last Sunday:

Dear brothers and sisters,

As Jesus walks the Way of the Cross, we place ourselves behind him, following in his footsteps. As we walk with him, we contemplate his passion for the sake of humanity, his broken heart, and his life as a gift of love.

We turn our gaze to Jesus, who reveals himself as King of Peace, even as war looms around him. He remains steadfast in meekness, while others are stirring up violence. He offers himself to embrace humanity, even as others raise swords and clubs. He is the light of the world, though darkness is about to engulf the earth. He came to bring life, even as plans unfold to condemn him to death.

King of Peace. Jesus’ desire is to bring the world into the Father’s arms, tearing down every barrier that separates us from God and from our neighbor, for “He is our peace” (Eph 2:14).

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