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Pope Leo XIV condemned the “imperialist occupation of the world” in a mass on Thursday, just days before Easter, in a continuation of his anti-war preachings as the Catholic leader continues to advocate against the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran.

“The cross is part of the mission. The imperialist occupation of the world is disrupted from within; the violence that until now has been the law is unmasked,” the pope’s official X account posted on Thursday. “The poor, imprisoned, and rejected Messiah descends into the darkness of death, yet in so doing He brings a new creation to light.”

The post repeated part of his sermon delivered in the Vatican on Holy Thursday. “It is now a priority to remember that neither in the pastoral sphere nor in the social and political spheres can good come from abuse of power,” Pope Leo said.

Taken with his evening homily that same day, the pope “formed a sustained theological argument about the nature of power, the legacy of imperial violence, and the Christian obligation to kneel alongside the oppressed,” as Letters From Leo Substack writer Christopher Hale wrote in an analysis.

“In Leo’s reading of the Passion, Jesus does not accommodate empire. The Messiah descends into the structures of domination and exposes them as fraud,” Hale wrote of the pope’s criticism of imperialism.

Hegseth Prays for “Overwhelming Violence” in Iran in the “Name of Jesus Christ”

The message comes amid the holiest week in the Catholic faith, and as the pope has repeatedly criticized the Trump administration for its war on Iran and frequent invocation of God in justifying the war.

On Tuesday, the pope directly addressed President Donald Trump in comments on the war, calling for peace.

“I’m told that President Trump recently stated that he would like to end the war. Hopefully he’s looking for an off-ramp. Hopefully he’s looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing, which would be a significant contribution to removing the hatred that’s being created and that’s increasing constantly in the Middle East and elsewhere,” he said to journalists, per Vatican News.

Easter “should be the holiest, most sacred time of the year,” Leo said. “It is a time of peace, a time for much reflection, but as we all know, once again in the world, in so many places, we are seeing so much suffering, so many deaths, even innocent children.”

On Palm Sunday, the pope also appeared to reference recent comments by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who asked for Pentagon officials to pray for soldiers to wage “overwhelming violence” in the “name of Jesus Christ” in the U.S.’s war on Iran.

The pope, in a seeming response, said in his address: “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.”

The pope has carved out an anti-war stance that breaks from his predecessors. Just last week, the pope said that the practice of aerial bombing should have been “banished forever” after the atrocities of the 20th century wars.

The current war on Iran, however, may be so beyond the pale that it is also spurring other Catholic leaders to speak out. Hale reported on Friday that one of the most conservative Catholic leaders in the U.S., Archbishop Timothy Broglio and head of the U.S.’s Archdiocese for the Military Services recorded an interview with CBS in which he, too, condemns the war. The interview was recorded on Thursday and will air in part on Easter Sunday.

When asked whether he believes the war is justified, Broglio said: “Under the just war theory, it is not [justified] because while there was a threat with nuclear arms, it’s compensating for a threat before the threat is actually realized. And I think there, I would line myself up with Pope Leo, who has been urging for negotiation.”

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Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering international affairs, politics, and labor. She has a master’s degree in environmental studies. She can be found on Twitter and Bluesky.

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