President Donal Trump’s decidions to go to war alongside Israel against Iran has made life hard for Catholics like me, who rather want to eat our cake and have it, too. There is not quetion that Iran has been a state sponsor of terrorism against the U. S. and Israel. On their website, the U. S. Embassy and Consulates in China lists forty-two attacks against Americans and American military force by Iran or its proxies since the hardline imams took control of the Iranian government in 1979, attacks that have resulted in the deaths of almost a thousand American and the injury of dozens more. I recall reading or hearing about many of these attacks when they occurred. What is more, Iran does not limit its attacks against Americans to those who signed up for the military or engage in military action against Iran. No, Iran sponors terrorism, so many of their attacks against Americans and those of other nations have been attacks on shopping centers, entertainment venues, buses, or even private vehicles carrying American citizens.

It’s not only Americans that are targeted by the majority Shia Muslim nation. Religious minorities, especially Sufi and Sunni Muslims and Muslim converts to Christianity, have suffered greatly under the radical Islamic regime. The U. S. Commission on International Religious Freedom wrote in their 2025 annual report that: “Religious freedom conditions in Iran remained poor, particularly for religious minorities, religious dissidents, and women and girls. Authorities subjected prisoners detained on religious grounds to torture and severe punishment, including by denying them medical care. The government also continued to systematically harass, intimidate, and target religious minorities through its arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, forced closure of businesses. Iran’s government carried out over 900 executions in 2024 and issued scores of death sentences for religiously based charges.”

Finally, I cannot begin to fathom the horrific consequences of the Iranian regime with a nuclear weapon in its stockpile. Anyone who thinks such a regime would develop these weapons only to never use them against Iran’s perceived enemies is a fool. And the current Iranian regime certainly perceives the United States and Israel as enemies.

So, part of me wants to say, in response to the U. S.-Israeli war against Iran, “About time!” It is reasonable, in my mind, that something had to be done to 1) take away Iran’s ability to continue sponsoring state terrorism against the U. S. and Israel, and any other country, and its own citizens, especially religious minorities and 2) take away any hope of Iran eventually developing a nuclear weapon. If Trump succeeds in those two goals, especially the second, I think the world owes him a debt of gratitude.

But another part of me, the part that hates war, hates bombings, hates the resort to war before all other attempts at avoiding it have been exploited, and especially the part of me that is repulsed by blustery, buffoonish, sword-rattling statements like “a civilization will die today, unless…” That part of me wants to say, “Stop!” Stop making war. Stop resorting to war. Stop regarding war as a legitimate means toward a desired end. That part of me wants the whole thing called off.

I do not trust and am bewildered by mainstream media and political leaders who cannot seem to recognize American-Israeli military success in the war, or who attempt to gaslight the American people by absurdly recommending that Iran is winning the war. Yet, I still cannot shake the conclusion that war is a failure of reasonable minds being willing to come to reasonable solutions. The Iranian regime, unfortunately, is not reasonable. Any regime that is willing to kill 30,000 of its own people for their having the gall to protest the extremist positions and actions of their oppressive government is not a regime that fits the definition of one willing to negotiate a reasonable solution. On the other hand, targeting the infrastructure and energy plants of a country, effectively leaving the civilian population with nowhere to go and in the dark, causing widespread panic, displacement, and injury to precisely those the U. S. claims it wants to help, that doesn’t strike me as putting one in a position to assume the moral high ground. Pope Leo himself has spoken out against such threats, identifying them as contrary to international law. He continues to demand that both sides sit down and work together toward peace and to stop the killing. Shortly after the Holy Father made his plea, the U. S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, to sit down at the table and discuss a resolution to this conflict, a resolution that must not include allowing Iran the capacity to develop nuclear weapons. Yet, even after making such a deal, Iran’s proxies continue to fight. What to do?

Trump, in his typical egomaniacal way, has said he doesn’t like Pope Leo. He accused the Holy Father of being “soft on crime” in our cities (huh?). He accused him of not caring if Iran gets nuclear weapons, and of acting like a politician. This week, someone created a blasphemous depiction of Trump as a Christ figure, dressed in robes reminiscent of paintings of Christ, and laying his hands on an ill man’s forehead, apparently in an act of healing. The Jesus Trump figure is surrounded by angels, rays of light and, ‘natch, the American flag. Trump put it up on his social media platform Truth Social, then shortly after took it down. It seems even he recognized the blasphemy of the image. He attempted to excuse it by claiming the artist was depicting him as a doctor. No one believed him. Pope Leo, on the other hand, insisted that he is not a politician and his statements aren’t intended as political. He is charged with speaking the gospel, and he will continue to do so, regardless of Trump’s disappointment. The president of Iran sent a message condemning Trump’s disrespectful words toward Pope Leo and praising the Holy Father for encouraging peace. There’s little comfort for Pope Leo, I think, in being defended by a man whose regime killed tens of thousands of protesters. Pope Leo has condemned the actions of the Iranian regime, but that has received little to no press in the U. S.

Psalm 34:12-16 encourages us: “Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you fear of the LORD. Who is the man who delights in life, who loves to see the good days? Keep your tongue from evil, your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are directed toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry” (emphasis added).

Trump gave Iran two weeks to open the Strait of Hormuz or suffer the consequences. After which, he took matters into his own hands and effectively took control of the Strait, allowing shipping to resume from all other nations except Iran. There is currently a blockade on Iranian ports, so no ships can get in or out. Now, Iran has the remainder of the two weeks to agree to a deal with the United States, a deal that includes their giving up any notion of developing nuclear weapons. I hope whatever needs to be done to stop the return of the bombings, the destruction, the innocent lives lost or torn asunder, whatever needs to be done will be done. I pray that the Lord moves the hearts of the Iranian leaders, whoever they are at this point, to a sensible negotiation with the U. S. and Israel. Iran cannot hope to defeat the U. S. and Israel militarily. They can only hope to drag the conflict out long enough that the American public lose heart and Western pressure builds up against Trump’s continued efforts to dismantle Iran’s nuclear ambitions. That would be a mistake. For, as horrible as this war is, the horror of Iran with nuclear weapons cannot be allowed. Iran would use those weapons.

What’s a faithful Catholic to do? Can we support our president in his efforts to stop Iran’s oppressive and nuclear ambitious regime? Of course, we can. But we also need to remind our president that his power rests in the people he governs. Destroying the lives or livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Iranians, who no more desire to live under their current government than any American would, is not the road to righteousness in international relations. To fight evil where it exists is one thing. To do so by indiscriminately destroying the lives of thousands of innocents is something altogether different. We cannot become what we oppose, even to achieve the good end of peace.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.