There is a phrase from the Bible, specifically John 8:7, where Jesus tells those ready to stone a woman caught in adultery that the one without sin should throw the first stone. I was baptized both Lutheran and Catholic and have studied both religions and their histories. With all due respect, Pope Leo seems to have forgotten the history of the Catholic Church. While he is well meaning as leader of the church and as a purveyor of peace, his criticism of Trump and the war with Iran is misplaced. While history never repeats itself, it often rhymes. Trump is trying to bring “Peace through Strength,” stopping a group of religious fanatics in charge of Iran from being able to threaten anyone they choose with nuclear destruction. This is a regime that has repressed its people and been at war for 47 years.
Let me remind His Eminence that it was the Catholic Church that conceived, organized, funded, and spiritually commanded the entire enterprise of the Crusades. These Crusades were fundamentally a Church operation from beginning to end. They began in November of 1095 at the Council of Clermont in France with a sermon delivered by Pope Urban II when he called on Christendom to take up arms and march to the Holy Land to recapture Jerusalem from Muslim control. He framed the Crusades as God’s will, a holy war, a sacred duty, and reportedly declared “Deus Vult,” meaning “God wills it,” which became the battle cry of the Crusaders.
Every Crusade was launched by Papal decree, and keep in mind that there were five such Crusades from 1096 to 1272. Popes not only blessed these Crusades, they actively appointed papal representatives to accompany the armies as they authorized massive preaching campaigns across Europe. They also imposed crusading taxes and offered plenary indulgences, or full remission of all sins, while guaranteeing entry into heaven to anyone who took up the fight. My last point cannot be overstated: in an era when people genuinely believed in hell, purgatory, and Divine judgement, the Pope was offering the most valuable commodity imaginable—a guaranteed ticket to salvation—and what a powerful recruitment tool this was. These Crusades and their long-term consequences created a deep divide between Christians and Muslims that persists to this day. It should also be noted that it is estimated by historians that between one and nine million deaths were caused by these Crusades.
Another deeply troubling aspect of the Crusades was the systematic violence against Jewish communities in Europe, particularly during the First Crusade. The Church’s role was complex, and some bishops tried to protect Jews. For example, the Bishop of Speyer sheltered the Jewish community. Later Crusades saw similar patterns of anti-Jewish violence, and the Church bears responsibility for creating the ideological framework that enabled it.
I have enormous respect for Pope Leo as leader of the Catholic Faith, but criticism and condemnation of President Trump’s actions against Iran, in my opinion, are misplaced. Many feel that since Pope Leo is an American by heritage, he should be supportive of President Trump, but they forget that his role today is to be the leader of the Catholic Church, which is exactly what he is doing. Let us not forget that the Pope’s job is to promote peace in a world that is full of conflicts and war. The liberal media loves to wreak havoc whenever and wherever they can and is currently escalating criticism of Trump’s actions. The President is trying to protect our country and neutralize a terrible threat that Iran would pose if they obtained a nuclear device and a delivery system.
The current conflict with Iran may not mirror the reason for the Crusades, but there certainly are structural parallels, as President Trump is trying to restore peace to a part of the world that has been in constant turmoil for 47 years. Iran is a country with a radical government that has threatened “Death to America and Death to Israel” for years. They are a nation that has spread death and destruction throughout the Middle East, and this must stop. It is time for these constant wars and conflicts to end, and Trump is flexing America’s military muscle to force a conclusion to Iran’s threats and blackmail. To be sure, there is disagreement amongst politicians on both sides of the aisle about America’s involvement militarily. The question must be asked: when someone takes a gun and aims it at your head several times, do you continue to try to reason with them and give them your wallet, or try to disarm and overpower them, hoping they are slow to react? Up until Trump’s election, every president made the decision to try to reason and placate and even pay them off with planes full of money, like Obama and Biden, and all the time telling us all is well and don’t worry.
The comparison is not perfect, but the structural parallels are remarkable: a Western military coalition attacking Muslim lands under a stated justification (religious liberation/nuclear nonproliferation) that masks more complex motivations (power, territory, economics); a decapitation strategy that kills leaders but hardens resistance; a geographic chokepoint that determines who really holds power; economic interests that profit from prolonged conflict; collateral damage that falls on the very allies being “protected”; mission creep that expands objectives beyond the original scope; and the fundamental question of whether military force can achieve lasting political outcomes in a region that has resisted outside control for millennia. While Trump can’t offer a pathway to heaven like the Popes of the Crusade era, he is offering a safer Middle East with what he hopes will be less aggression and a non-nuclear Iran, along with cheaper oil and control of the Strait of Hormuz. The reasons may be different, but the outcomes are for similar purposes. Trump made the right decision, in my opinion, for just as the Pope’s job is to promote and work for peace, it is our President’s job to protect our nation. May God Bless America.
“We Get the Government We Deserve”
