Letter to the editor: 'Just wars' don't start with Pearl Harbors

First published in the Brunswick Beacon, 04.30.26

Why did Trump attack and lie about America’s most popular public figure, Chicago’s Pope Leo?

It began when Secretary of War Hegseth led a prayer for “overwhelming violence” against Iran in the “mighty and powerful name of Jesus Christ.” Pope Leo responded, “Jesus is the 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.”

Trump called the Pope “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” then falsely accused Pope Leo of saying, “Iran can have a nuclear weapon,” according to Politifact and CNN fact checkers.

VP Vance, a recent convert, calls himself a “baby Catholic.” That didn’t stop him from lecturing the Pope about being “careful when he talks about matters of theology.” Vance claimed the Pope’s opinion wasn’t “anchored in the truth” and cited Catholicism’s “Just War Theory.”

Calling the Pope untruthful got Vance schooled on “Just War Theory” by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: “A nation can only legitimately take up the sword ‘in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2308). That is, to be a just war it must be a defense against another who actively wages war.”

Iran did not start this war — Trump did. He launched a surprise attack with Israel while negotiations with Iran were ongoing. Trump emphasized that fact in an awkward March 19 Oval Office meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister. Asked why he didn’t tell America’s allies about the impending attack, Trump blurted out, “because we wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? OK, why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?”

A Pew Research poll found that 59% of Americans think Trump was wrong to attack Iran. Like Pope Leo, they understand that “Just War Theory” doesn’t justify either Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor or Trump’s sneak attack on Iran.

Linda McConnell Baker

Leland