Pope Leo celebrated a God of peace, not war. Trump should listen to him.

Pope Leo XIV’s Palm Sunday sermon warned against invoking God to justify violence.

By Joan Vennochi Globe Columnist,Updated March 30, 2026, 2:12 p.m.

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Pope Leo XIV led a mass for Palm Sunday at St Peter's Square in the Vatican on March 29.REMO CASILLI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

If President Trump really hopes to be “knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door,” in Bob Dylan’s famous words, he should pay more attention to Pope Leo XIV — and less to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

In his first Palm Sunday sermon, the pope had a message for those who wage war in God’s name. Don’t do it.

To the tens of thousands who gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the pope said: “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.” Quoting scripture, the pope added, “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: Your hands are full of blood.”

 

Vatican Dispatch

Pope Leo fills two crucial positions at the Vatican

by Gerard O’Connell March 30, 2026

Pope Leo XIV celebrates a public Mass at the Louis II Stadium as part of a one-day trip in Monaco, March 28, 2026. Credit: OSV News photo/Guglielmo Mangiapane, Reuters

Pope Leo XIV is continuing to build out his administration, and today, March 30, the Vatican announced two handpicked appointments to key positions. He has also reassigned his former chief of staff as nuncio to Italy.

The pope has chosen an Italian Holy See diplomat, Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, 55, for the crucial role of chief of staff; the official title for the post is “substitute” in the Secretariat of State.

A reflection for Holy Week

Why Do We Suffer?

A reflection for Holy Week

Dan Barry

March 31, 2026

Lent

Spirituality

Please email comments to letters@commonwealmagazine.org.

A crown of thorns is pictured on a table draped in purple during Lent at Jesus the Good Shepherd Church in Dunkirk, Maryland (OSV News photo/Bob Roller, Reuters).

This essay has been adapted from a talk given by Dan Barry on March 12, 2026, as part of the “Roots: Dialogues for the Common Good” series of public conversations cosponsored by Commonweal and Columbia University’s Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary. 

The question has been put to me: Why do we suffer?

Ultimately, I think we suffer because we have no other choice in the matter. The only choice we do have is: What do we do with our suffering? 

We need to find meaning in our suffering. We need to give it purpose. As the Franciscan priest Richard Rohr has said: “Pain that is not transformed is transmitted.”

By quoting Richard Rohr, I may give the impression that I am some kind of scholar, or an amateur theologian. I am not. I am a newspaper reporter: a hack. This means that my musings are entirely rooted in what is popularly known as the “lived experience.” My lived experience represents the research I have done on this subject. That adds up to sixty-eight years of research—on suffering. 

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LCWR leaders meet with Pope Leo, discuss 'painful' treatment of people in the US

 

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Posted inFaith and Reason

Do Catholics listen to what popes say about war? 

by Edward J. Weisenburger March 30, 202

People inspect the damage in the Lebanese town of Nabi Chit March 7, 2026, where the Israeli military carried out an airborne operation that dropped troops overnight. Credit: (OSV News photo/Mohammad Yassine, Reuters)

If we review the teachings and comments on war from the popes of the last century, most especially from the end of World War II up to the present, we find a strong and constant refrain of “no” to war. There is a striking consistency in this realm of papal teaching, emphasizing again and again that war is not God’s will and is always a sign of human failure. 

Full text: Pope Leo XIV's first Palm Sunday homily

 

Full text: Pope Leo XIV's first Palm Sunday homily

"As Jesus walks the Way of the Cross, we place ourselves behind him, following in his footsteps," Pope Leo XIV said.

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