Many are abuzz about Pope Leo XIV’s Palm Sunday homily. In order to provide some context, let’s consider what Pete Hegseth prayed at the Pentagon last Wednesday, March 25th. In leading a Pentagon Christian service, the U.S. Secretary of Defense prayed for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy,” asked that “every round find its mark,” and called for justice to be executed “swiftly and without remorse.”
A few days later, Pope Leo XIV preached on Palm Sunday that Jesus is the “King of Peace,” and then declared, “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.” In some sense, he might have been evoking Isaiah 1:15. That language is in the official Vatican text. The Italian original reads, “non ascolta la preghiera di chi fa la guerra,” which closely means that God does not hear the prayer of those who make or wage war.
First, let us leave aside the guessing game over whether the Holy Father was addressing Hegseth in particular. Several news reports framed the homily as a direct rebuke. Sure, the timing was striking, and the language was severe, yet Pope Leo named no official and offered no explicit reference to Hegseth or to the Pentagon service. Speculation here produces heat and very little light.
The more urgent issue is that of virtue.
Was Hegseth’s prayer a fitting Christian prayer? I believe the answer is no.
A man entrusted with public authority, especially over the armed forces of a great nation, should pray with trembling reverence because prayer is an act of worship before the all-holy God. Public prayer from such a man should ask for wisdom, protection of the innocent, and repentance of the wicked. Instead, Hegseth’s language seemed to relish in destruction and an exaltation of lethal force. Even when one grants the grave duties of national defense, such words fall beneath the standards of Christian prayer.
Scripture certainly includes war. Scripture also includes cries for deliverance against violent enemies. David inquired of the Lord before battle and received direction to go up against the Philistines. Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast and sought the Lord when invasion loomed over Judah. Judas Maccabeus called his men to cry to Heaven and remember the covenant before battle.
These texts show that Scripture has never treated every act of armed defense as intrinsically evil. Yet those same texts also reveal something deeper. The Lord of hosts is never a mascot for bloodlust. He is Judge. And He is also the One who sees every widow, every child, every father lost in battle, every field soaked in grief.
That is why Jonah matters here. God sent judgment toward Nineveh, and God also revealed His pity for a great city full of image bearers who could scarcely discern their right hand from their left. The biblical God is holy beyond words, and He is merciful beyond measure. Therefore, a statesman who invokes His name during war must do so with careful discernment.
In that sense, some of Hegseth’s words, I believe, bordered on scandal. That kind of language can potentially deform the conscience of a nation, especially in a land shaped by natural law reasoning and by Christian moral inheritance. Public officials must be better than this, and Christian officials most especially.
Now to Pope Leo’s homily.
In one sense, his Palm Sunday line needs careful handling. The Catechism teaches that legitimate defense by military force is morally permissible, and it also teaches that those responsible for the lives of others may bear a grave duty of defense. Paragraph 2309 lays out the classic just war criteria, and paragraph 2265 teaches the duty of those charged with the common good to repel unjust aggressors.
So if someone were to read Leo’s sentence as a flat denial that God hears any prayer from any soldier or any ruler engaged in any war whatsoever, that reading would collide with the Church’s own moral tradition. The Allied struggle against Hitler and Imperial Japan would then become morally unintelligible within Catholic thought, and so would the defense of innocent peoples from invasion.
Church history itself reinforces this point. Pope St. Pius V organized the Holy League in the face of Ottoman expansion, and the Christian victory at Lepanto in 1571 became linked with papal calls to prayer and thanksgiving, eventually giving rise to the feast now associated with Our Lady of the Rosary. In 1683, Pope Innocent XI aided the defense of Vienna against the Ottoman siege, a battle widely recognized as a decisive defense of Christian Europe. A Catholic reading of history simply cannot erase the legitimacy of defensive war.
Still, I strongly doubt Leo intended a doctrinal rupture from the pulpit on Palm Sunday. The homily as a whole is a meditation on Christ entering Jerusalem as the meek King who renounces vengeance, rebukes the sword in Gethsemane, and embraces the Cross for the salvation of the world. His dominant register is spiritual and biblical.
He is preaching Christ crucified. He is not issuing a technical revision of just war doctrine in his homiletic statement.
The official Italian text also matters. Leo said, “chi fa la guerra,”, which literally refers to those who make or wage war. That phrasing is nuanced. Read that way, the line seems more aimed at the abuse of religion by violent political power.
So, in this nuanced sense, the Holy Father is certainly correct. Christ truly is the Prince of Peace. Christ truly rejects the deification of violence. Palm Sunday teaches that the Messiah enters the city on a donkey, and Zechariah says He shall banish the war horse and command peace to the nations. In Gethsemane, Jesus says, “Put your sword back into its place.” In Ephesians, St. Paul says of Christ, “He is our peace.”
That is why our path forward requires moderation and measured reason. Catholics should resist the urge to weaponise every papal sentence for factional gain. Protest against Hegseth’s prayer and the Trump administration should avoid hysteria. Put another way: read Leo ecclesially, not ideologically. The Vatican may well clarify the line in the coming days, especially since so many readers have heard it through media filters and political anxiety. For now, the wiser course is to receive the homily as a summons to examine our own conscience.
Personally, I am no pacifist, and I do believe that there are times when war becomes tragically necessary for the defense of the innocent, the preservation of order, and the restraint of grave evil. Yet I also believe that reason and truth must govern how we speak about it and how we wage it, because every missile is sent into a world made by God, every bullet passes through a human life, and every battlefield leaves behind graves and widows.
Which is why a Christian leader may at times rightly authorize force and a Christian soldier may at times rightly bear arms under just authority, while neither should ever delight in bloodshed or speak of violence with a kind of gleeful disposition unbecoming of those who know that even necessary war is still a terrible thing.
Hence, Holy Week directs our gaze to a different throne. Christ reigns while hanging on the Cross. Therefore, let rulers pray for wisdom and restraint. Let soldiers pray for purity of conscience and the protection of the innocent. Let the faithful refuse both bloodthirsty piety and sentimental confusion.
And above all, let us center our hearts on Jesus Christ, the true King of Peace, because the Church has always taught that peace is far more than the temporary silencing of weapons. Peace is rightly ordered love under God, a justice shaped by truth that compels man to be reconciled to the Father through the Blood of the covenant. In a biblical covenantal worldview, every human life must finally kneel before the Lamb who was slain and who alone makes men brothers.
Until then, the Church must keep saying to princes and peoples alike: repent, seek wisdom, and come under the lordship of Jesus. Perfect peace is only possible in Heaven, but let us strive for the reasonable and grace-filled peace of our Lord in our conduct this Holy Week.
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I have to wonder where Hegseth learned his “prayers”.
Hegseth’s “prayer” is a mockery, but so is his “pastor”, Doug Wilson a dispensationalist bigot.
However, the Pope’s response made it seem as God has selective mutism.
While we’re on the topic of war, what about Bishops that wage war on priests who reject the alphabet agenda the way Cupich did? Are their prayers heard? How about the Bishops that wage war on people who want to worship God in a traditional Mass with reverence?
War takes many forms. Combatants don’t always wear olive drab or camouflage fatigues. Sometimes, those who wage war wield pens as weapons.
Errata: Selective hearing.
Hegseth’s remarks, described herein, where from a speech at the Pentagon and were taken “completely out of context” from another clergical recitation, and recitation of Psalm 18; 37-42. Look inside yourselves for truth, and do not believe those that would steer you towards hatred.
So, God did not hear prayers from the Allies or the Nazis, both of whom were waging war. There’s no wiggle room there. And yes the strikes against Nazi Germany were preemptive, just as were the strikes against Iran. The US declared war on Germany, to prevent it from taking over Europe. The US is fightng Iran preemptively, to prevent a terrorist regime from developing a nuclear weapon
Perhaps from Douglas MacArthur, who used similar language.
Dr. Google says he was raised Baptist & now attends a Reformed Evangelical church. I guess basically a Calvinist type church?
Appreciating and in agreement with your always superior and reasoned analysis…but here only as an aside about “violence” in general, we have a further nuance from philosopher Josef Pieper (1904-1997) and even Aquinas:
First PIEPER: “Christ drove the money-changers from the temple with a whip, and when the most patient of men stood before the high priest and was struck in the face by a servant, he did NOT turn the other cheek, but answered: ‘If there was harm in what I said, tell us what was harmful in it, but if not, why dost thou strike me?’” (Jn 18:23).
Then he quotes AQUINAS’ commentary on St. John’s Gospel:
“Holy Scripture must be understood in the light of what Christ and his saints have actually practiced. Christ did not offer his other cheek, nor Paul either. Thus to interpret the injunction of the Sermon on the Mount [turning the other cheek] ‘literally’ [italics] is to misunderstand it. This injunction signifies rather the readiness of the soul to bear, ‘if it be necessary’ [italics], such things and worse, without bitterness against the attacker. This readiness our Lord showed, when he gave up his body to be crucified. That response of the Lord was useful, therefore, for our instruction” (Pieper, “Fortitude and Temperance,” 1954; citing Aquinas John 18, lect. 4,2). ________________________________
Yes, about Hegseth, he effused too much, possibly mimicking General Patton’s “crap through a goose.” The allure of immoderate rhetoric! But, the strategy itself can be maximum surprise and force at the time or point of maximum vulnerability— to possibly incur the least total losses as from a more incremental and protracted engagement (e.g., Napoleon, Ulysses S. Grant, Vietnam). And, then, we can also wonder about olden times and the mentioned and asymmetrical David and Goliath….having dispatched the giant (with maximum surprise and force at the point of greatest vulnerability) and rendering Goliath no longer a threat, David still went further and cut the head off the snake of his day.
The asymmetry of our day is that continued jihad, by definition IS a just war. But, also, the Law of Unintended Consequences is a universal truth.
Please look at the history of Christianity, which this Pope, and others, prefer to ignore. This lack ofknowledge is inexplicable.
Pope Urban II prayed for the defeat of the enemies of Christianity and organized the First Crusade abd orayed that the Crusaders crush their enmies to help the Christian Emperor of the Christian Greek Roman Empire (Byzantine) whose land was been overwhelmed by the Muslim Turks and rescue the Chruch of the Holy Sepulcher that had been destroyed by the Shia Calipgh almost ninety years earlier. Against great odds, the Crusaders triumphed and liberated Jerusalem.
Pope Saint Pius V prayed for the desturcion of the enemies of Christianitiy and organized the Holy League that fought against the Muslim Turks at Lepanto, which crushed the enemies, and helped check the Islamic advance against Christendom.
Christ cursed the fig tree and it dried up.
Christ overthrew the tables of the crooked men at the Temple and destroyed their filthy business.
He called woe on the Pharisees and Scribes, hypocrits.
He appeared to Emperor Constantine the Great and told him he would triumph in the battle against the pagan Maxentius under the sign of the Labarum ( the military standard created by Constantine the Great that bore the Chi-Rho symbol (☧), formed by the first two Greek letters of “Christ” (Χ and Ρ)
God answers prayers of the Israelites and helped them destroy their enemies in the Old Testament.
Many Christian heroes and saints have prayed for the destruction of their enemies. See historian R. Ibrahim, Defenders of the West. The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam.
https://www.amazon.com/Defenders-West-Christian-Heroes-Against/dp/1642938203
I’m happy that Dr. Peter is now a regular contributor here as I can count on him for reasoned discourse. Hegseth appears to be way off base. Pope Leo could be somewhat more nuanced– certainly, God would look favorably on a prayer along the lines of “may this mission be legitimate and achieve its objectives with a minimum of loss of innocent life.” Besides that, our leaders obviously should pray for wisdom as they make decisions that may bring hardship and loss of life to the innocent– not to mention praying for the other cardinal virtues as well, and pray that they receive accurate, timely information on which to base their decisions.
If God doesn’t hear the prayers of sinners in general, then we are all doomed.
Secretary Hegseth and the Pontiff Leo are grown men responsible for their deeds…and their words.
Secretary Hegseth’s “prayer” is not commendable.
The Pontiff Leo’s political statement is not commendable.
They should both learn to “train their tongues.”
Perhaps they’d benefit if Secretary Hegseth spared us of his public prayers, and the Pontiff Leo spared us of his political posturing.
Well said.
And that being said, the Pope does not seem to think very highly of his country of birth.
Jus’Sayin’.
Chris – Well said.
Thank You
I’ve been around long enough to see generations of family come and go. I’ve heard prayers from people in nearly forty countries, from both the young and the old, from thousands of individuals belonging to different churches and religions. I’ve heard a child pray in a way that brought tears to your eyes, and others whose many words left me unmoved. Over time, I’ve realized it doesn’t matter much to me what someone asks God or how they say it – I’m just thankful that they pray. I leave the quality of the prayer between the person and God. I believe God hears every prayer from those who seek Him, whether it’s from soldiers on either side of the front line or a politician behind walls. I pay little attention to those who claim to know whose prayers God listens to.
“Pope Leo XIV preached on Palm Sunday that Jesus is the “King of Peace,” and then declared, “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.”
What nonsense. How could a God who is perfect love not listen to all prayers. God is NOT an almighty sensor. He receives ALL prayers and in those instances where the prayer falls short of perfect love, God intends to convert hearts.
Our Popes need to pray more, spending more time in reflective prayer and speak only when God calls him to speak prophetically- which means not every time the Pope boards an airliner.
One priest said that God has three answers to prayer: “Yes,” “Not yet”, and “I have a better idea.”
I think that when it comes to attacking another country or another person, God’s reply to prayer is always “I have a better idea.”
Please note that I used the verb “attacking”. To “wage war”, as Pope Leo XIV said, is not a defensive action.
I will cut Hegseth some slack because of his age (45) and his formerly boisterous life. He likely got his war justification from a strident preacher.
Anyway, he did pray! It was not a perfect prayer, far from it, but he and the President are purposely avoiding civilian areas in Iran which is what the Church teaches. The Pope probably does not wish to get into tactics but he can give a nod to the Trump/Hegseth strategy to only go after the military industrial sites and the soldiers of evil who meet there.
However, IMO the Pope missed an opportunity to be fatherly (he’s 69, old enough to be Hegseth’s father). I understand that he is still trying to fit into the papal slippers, and that’s okay; he still has many years ahead to feel more comfortable than he seems to feel now.
Perhaps the Pope and Hegseth can take come cues from each other: Hegseth might want to be more circumspect in his words, and the Pope might want to be more fatherly toward Christians whose theology is undeveloped.
Rosey;
Good points. And we should remember that in the vast majority of instances the Iranians and their ilk fire from civilian areas – purposefully.
Is it too much to ask that the Holy Father speak with {much} greater clarity?
Should the imprecatory psalms no longer be prayed?
They’ve been left out of the current Divine Office, I understand.
The texts from the Votive Mass in Time of War would be a good guide for prayers in current circumstances. They’re much ore restrained than Hegseth’s.
Not sure that we should just put sections of the Bible aside because they make us uncomfortable. They’re there for a reason.
A good, balanced article. Thank you Dr. Peter. I had not noticed the imprecatory nature of Hegseth’s prayer. To be fair to him, there are prayers in the Psalms that can be more scandalous to enlightened Christian ears. Perhaps he has read these without remembering that they were written before the Prince of Peace was revealed who said: “You have heard it said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you…” I like Pete, but I fear he was emulating the Psalmist too much. I like Pope Leo too. We should pray for both!
The Holy Father quotes Isaiah 1:15 but neglects to place it in context. A short while later the Prophet Isaiah in verse 17 writes the revealed word … learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Who is presently seeking justice, correcting oppression? At least 30,000 to 40,000 Iranians murdered by their government the last few months, and the tens of thousands felled by their terrorist outreach over the last half century. In all honesty we know that the citizens of Iran are crying out to have the heel of their oppressors lifted from their necks.
Proof texting most often doesn’t achieve its intended purpose. Our omnicient LORD has the full picture unpruned by the inadequacies of a narrow periscope crafted by soft-Euro Marxism, Latin American liberation “theology” and academic moralisms.
This is an excellent article—thoughtful and well-balanced.
The extremism of Hegseth and his pastor underscores just how dangerous heresy can be: erroneous beliefs about Christ inevitably lead to erroneous actions carried out in His name.
The fabricated liquid version of ‘Christianity’ embraced by many in Trump’s administration (i.e. Paula White, Doug Wilson and Brooks Potteiger) is heretical. It distorts the Gospel, and it’s time we called it out openly, especially when politicians try to use our faith as a mascot. We should peacefully resist this co-opting of Christianity through prayer, fasting, a commitment to personal holiness, and sound theology/apologetics.
What I hear in Mr. Hegseth’s prayer is classic Calvinist language. He’s not a Catholic so we shouldn’t really expect to hear Catholic language or doctrine.
There’s a long history of Calvinist influenced leadership in the USA. I think this is another example.
Responding to ANDREW on how dangerous protestant heresies are: Well, Carrie Prejean Boller “called it out openly” and got fired from Trump’s so-called “religious liberty commission” (lol) and then thrown under the bus by Bishops Barron and Dolan.
I don’t believe Bishop Barron threw anyone under a bus.
I must humbly concur that nobody knows what God thinks about this particular war in Iran, ar least based on the comments by all trying to understand what our Pope and Mr Hegseth are saying…we do need to discuss the issue and come to a consensus….yes we have just war theory, but we also have the old testament filled with war and seemingly ordered by our God Almighty himself….confusing ? maybe. That’s why we need more discussion….lastly was Hegseths prayer out of order, I say yes….was our popes response adequate, no because it needed more clarity…let’s hope the Holy Father also directed his response to the mullahs in Iran as well as Mr Trump…..
Tilting toward the possible justice in hitting nuclear enrichment sites, rather than not, we have Heinrich Rommen—who ranks alongside Gilson and Maritain—and his words about when a war is just and when it is not.
About a pre-emptive strike (?) or war (?) versus unwillingness to actually negotiate, he writes this, posted at the Imaginative Conservative:
“[….] The decision would be that the state declining proposals of arbitration and mediation thus violates the international order because the very essence of peace and order presupposes the willingness to have disputes arbitrated or otherwise peacefully settled in justice and equity. The state that wantonly declines an arbitration or other peaceful settlement of the dispute commits an injury against the international order, an injury that, if grave enough, would give the other party in the dispute the right of resort to war as the only available way of settlement because in the international order as yet no superior power enforces the law. The just cause is, then, not so much the presumed or altogether certain justice of the claim of the one party, but the wanton refusal of the other party to settle the dispute peacefully. In this case the soldier and the citizen may rely upon the public authority because it has rightfully fulfilled all international obligations of law and morality [….]” https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2026/02/duties-of-citizen-soldier-heinrich-rommen.html
What about the alternative universe of Islam for which (an imminently nuclear-capable?) jihad is the pre-emptive definition of a “just war”?
“Warmongers”? Gosh, the title of this article would not be rather slanted, would it? Would the author have asked concerning Pope Francis: “Does God hear the prayers of Marxists?” Francis was far closer to being a Marxist than Hegseth is to a warmonger.
You are kind, but never the less well said.
Thank you for reading the article and raising this question. The title was actually intentionally framed around Pope Leo’s own language; Leo’s wording in Italian refers to those who make war, literally warmongers, so my question was tied to his words. I was not personally labeling Hegseth a warmonger. Rather, I was engaging the Pope’s framing and asking how Catholics should think about it. In fact, as you read, I specifically point out that we have no evidence that Leo was referring to Hegseth or the Trump administration at all.
Also, my critique of Hegseth had nothing to do with accusing him of warmongering and had far more to do with the deeply imprudent and scandalous wording of that prayer.
Still, as it was used, “warmongering” is also imprudent wording. The fine print does not quite undo the label. By your fine-grained meaning and intent, it should have been put in quotes. Yes?
I much appreciate Dr. Peter’s articles.
The more I read about Hegseth’s religious background, the worrier I get. His pastor is the one who called Eucharistic processions and mariology idolatrous. I detect a whiff of anti-Catholicism. Yep, these folks are still with us.
I believe the Reform/Calvinist Christians are heavily steeped in the Psalms, some of which (the Psalms) sound fairly nasty and are quite disturbing.
The same day I heard about the Holy Father’s words, I also happened to read about yet another Holy Week massacre of Christians (men, women and children) in Nigeria. We are engaged in a struggle with an Islamist force sworn to wipe out Jews and other infidels who refuse to swear allegiance to their murderous cult. I do not doubt that Satan (who promotes Freemasonry; atheism; socialism; racism, …) is laughing as we bicker. We need to pick up the Rosary. We need to remember that Satan fears our Holy Mother. Let us pray for the dead. Let us pray for our leaders and let us pray always for our troops!
Since the early 70’s, more than 60,000,000 human lives were destroyed by those who have waged war against defenseless babies through abortion in the USA alone. That’s 60,000,000 human lives lost by war mongers.
Now, if you added in all the human lives murdered through abortion across the entire globe in the last 60 years, the numbers have to be staggering – perhaps BILLIONS OF LIVES! So many lives destroyed by the war waged against defenseless babies that one would think that Popes and bishops would never stop talking about it. But, they don’t. After all, there are no political points to be garnered by talking about the GENOCIDAL WAR BEING WAGED AGAINST BABIES. Who’s kidding whom?
Hegseth is a faux tough guy. A TV host more concerned with his appearance than with the welfare of our people in the armed forces. Now, we are in an actual war and all the TV nonsense means nothing.
I believe Mr Hegseth served in some actual wars himself. He hasn’t always been a TV presenter.
Hegseth was a company grade officer in a National Guard unit. His unit did see some action, but he has never commanded a unit of any size. Trump chose him as Secretary of Defense because he liked how Hegseth looked on TV. Yes, a TV guy.
Did Pres. Trump state that was his reason for picking Mr. Hegseth? How he appeared on TV?
You can get taken out in a war whether you command a unit or not. My daddy was seriously injured, then MIA after the Nazis bombed the town where his ship’s crew had shore leave .
Everyone who serves their country during a conflict puts their life in real danger & should receive our gratitude & respect.
There’s nothing ‘faux tough guy’ about him at all. He has put his life on the line serving his country. Some research suggests he served in the U.S. Army National Guard from 2003 to 2016, achieving the rank of Major and participating in significant deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He was commissioned as an infantry officer in the Minnesota Army National Guard in 2003 after graduating from Princeton University. His military career began shortly after the September 11 attacks, which influenced his decision to serve.
Hegseth’s military service is recognized through several awards, including: Bronze Star Medal (two awards); Joint Commendation Medal; Army Commendation Medals (two awards); Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB); Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB).
Thank you for sharing that, Miss Margaret.
Yes, he has some decorations, but his are fairly typical for a company grade in Iraq or Afghanistan. Hundreds of other junior officers have similar awards.
I have a neighbor with a Distinguished Service Cross from Vietnam. Now, that is something.
I don’t think it’s a competition though. God bless call who serve their country.
Since Leo hates war mongering so much my guess is he’d support the USA getting out of NATO and removing all our military personnel from Europe.
Never heard of the imprecatory Psalms until recently (as far as I remember, anyway).
Not familiar with the Votive Mass in Times of War – should probably count my blessings.
Someone explain dispensationalist to me, pls.
I go to daily Mass, in awe. No human being, in our entire history is worthy to do that. My sole justification is His order, “… take this and eat….”.
I engineered twenty four nukes, including a prototype, the largest on earth. My repeated prayer is that fire, fission and fusion be only used to heat a baby bottle. All of us, particularly the hierarchy must learn about nuclear weapons. Each one is a city killer, the damage is counted in megadeaths, 1,000,000 dead within hours. All of the wars in human history, the just war theory, must be reconsidered due to these weapons of mass destruction.
I also recommend the study of Taqiyya, an Iranian term. It orders lying to all infidels, Christians, Jews and other traditions of Islam. And study martial arts; there is no nice way to kill a human. I pray that the devil is driven into hell; the prince of suffering and death be removed from all humanity.
Happy Easter. God wins, in double over time.
Trump, Hegseth, and sycophants are praying not to God but to Mars.
Blah, blah, blah. And what about Pope Julius II, who himself led soldiers into battle? Is he condemned by Leo too?? Its a cinch he prayed before battle to come out the winner. In a fantasy world where no aggressive enemies exist, you can worry about the fine theological points of war. In the real world, sitting on your hands in the face of an enemy who threatens to kill you, is not an option. To do nothing means you are choosing the role of martyr. A lot of us will skip that option, thanks.
As for Hegseths prayer not being “fitting”. that is between Hegseth and God. None of us have ANY idea what God thinks of it. Defending your nation and stopping random violent evil to me carries more positive weight than the cause of the terrorists I once saw filmed on you tube. They said (prayed?)” Allah Akbar” each time they fired a missile at the Israelis. Over and over again. Until the Israeli’s found their range and took them out. Motivation for what we do MATTERS to me, and I am hopeful that it matters to God as well.
Meanwhile I wish our Popes would butt out of POLITICAL affairs like illegal immigration and war, and stick to issues and individual behaviors where they SHOULD be speaking out and providing guidance to the faithful. Having known pro-abortionist politicians like Pelosi and Biden NOT be received like heroes at the Vatican as Francis did would be a place to start. That was a slap in the face to most Catholics. There is plenty any Pope could say about abortion and the free-sex mindset of immorality in today’s society to keep them busy for a while.