Pope Leo: “God Does Not Listen To The Prayers Of Those Who Wage War”

Pope Leo has once again taken a slight jab at President Trump.

On Sunday, Pope Leo, while giving remarks at St. Peter’s Square, said God doesn’t hear the prayers of those who start wars.

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Addressing thousands of people in St. Peter's Square, Pope Leo said God “does not listen” to leaders who start wars and have “hands full of blood,” warning Jesus cannot be used to justify conflict.

As the Iran war enters its second month, he renewed calls for a ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/KtsGGClGrM

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 29, 2026

The Hill provided more details on Pope Leo’s remarks:

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday said that God “does not listen to the prayers” of individuals who start wars, as the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran continues.

“Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” the first American pope, citing a Bible passage, told congregants in St. Peter’s Square, according to The Associated Press.

“He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them,” he added.

The pontiff’s remarks came on Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week that culminates in Easter. It is also not the first time he has criticized the war in Iran, which began on Feb. 28.

On March 1, the day after the U.S. and Israel began striking Iran, he wrote on the social platform X, “Stability and peace are not achieved through mutual threats, nor through the use of weapons, which sow destruction, suffering, and death, but only through reasonable, sincere, and responsible dialogue.”

Since the conflict began, at least 1,551 civilians in Iran, including at least 236 children, have been killed as of Saturday, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). At least 1,208 Iranian military personnel and 702 “unclassified” individuals have also been killed, HRANA added.

Seven U.S. service members have also been killed by Iranian retaliation, while six troops died when a refueling aircraft crashed over Iraq on March 12. The Lebanese Health Ministry also said Friday that Israeli attacks have killed 1,142 people, while civilians in Israel, Iraq and Kuwait have also been killed in the fighting.

Also on Sunday morning, the Pope expressed solidarity with Christians in the Middle East, as Iran’s retaliation after the initial wave of U.S.-Israeli strikes engulfed the region in war. There are more than 12.9 million Christians in the Middle East as of 2020, according to the Pew Research Center.

This isn’t the first time the Pope has taken a passive jab at Trump.

Leo has previously criticized President Trump’s immigration policies.

PBS provided more remarks on the Pope’s stance on immigration:

Pope Leo XIV called for “deep reflection” in the United States about the treatment of migrants held in detention, saying that “many people who have lived for years and years and years, never causing problems, have been deeply affected by what is going on right now.”

The Chicago-born pope was responding Tuesday to a range of geopolitical questions from reporters outside the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo, including what kind of spiritual rights migrants in U.S. custody should have, U.S. military attacks on suspected drug traffickers off Venezuela and the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East.

Leo underlined that scripture emphasizes the question that will be posed at the end of the world: “How did you receive the foreigner, did you receive him and welcome him, or not? I think there is a deep reflection that needs to be made about what is happening.”

He said “the spiritual rights of people who have been detained should also be considered,” and he called on authorities to allow pastoral workers access to the detained migrants. “Many times they’ve been separated from their families. No one knows what’s happening, but their own spiritual needs should be attended to,” Leo said.

Leo last month urged labor union leaders visiting from Chicago to advocate for immigrants and welcome minorities into their ranks.

How does it strike you?