 "Timothy Broglio conducts an Easter Sunday mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington in April 2020. File Image / AP")
As the war in Iran continues to escalate, the leader of all Catholic chaplains in the United States’ armed forces questioned the righteousness of the US military campaign in West Asia and insisted that “under the just war theory, it is not”.
In an interview with CBS News, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services USA, said that while Iran “was a threat with nuclear arms”, waging war on the theocratic state constituted “compensating for a threat before the threat is actually realised”.
It is pertinent to note that the just war theory cited by the bishop is a philosophical and legal framework, rooted in the theologies of Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. It is designed to help determine when starting a war is normal and justifiable – or jus ad bellum – and how it should be conducted, or jus in bello.
What Broglio said
The just war theory maintains that war is a last resort, undertaken only to correct a serious wrong, and it requires legitimate authority, right intent, and proportionality to obtain peace.
“The Lord Jesus certainly brought a message of peace, and also – I think war is always a last resort,” Broglio told CBS. “I’m not making a judgment about that because I really don’t know. But I do think that it’s hard to cast this war – you know – as something that would be sponsored by the Lord.”
The archbishop’s comments on the matter are likely to ignite political division over the war’s justification, particularly among those who are religious and may generally support US President Donald Trump . Meanwhile, the Trump administration maintained that Iran’s history of terrorism sponsorship, coupled with its missile program and production of highly enriched uranium, justifies the action.
Quick Reads
View AllHowever, Democrats described the ongoing conflict as a “war of choice” and accused Trump of sidestepping lawmakers’ approval. Recent polling from YouGov and the Economist has found Trump’s approval rating at 35 per cent.
During the CBS News interview, when Broglio was asked how he viewed the rhetoric of US defence secretary Pete Hegseth , who has asked Americans to pray “every day, on bended knee” for a military victory “in the name of Jesus Christ”. Broglio said, “It’s a little problematic in the sense that Jesus preached peace and spoke of war in terms of being a last resort.” “They may have information that led them to think that that was the only choice they had," he added.
Broglio said he would line himself up with Pope Leo XIV , history’s first US-born Catholic pontiff, “who has been urging for negotiation”. The Vatican sovereign has urged Trump and other leaders to find ways to scale back violence in West Asia – and to find an “off-ramp” in the war with Iran.