Pope John Paul II condemned George Bush for the war in Iraq

“Pope John Paul II calls Iraq War a Defeat for Humanity”

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God.”

The words of Jesus Christ in the New Testament are intended to teach people how to live their lives. The Ten Commandments tell us what not to do, the words of Jesus tell us how to do that.

Thus, the words that we are hearing uttered right now because of the condemnation of Pope Leo with the war in Iran are those about peacemakers. These are contained in the Sermon on the Mount in the Book of Matthew, which is one of the most incisive look at how all of us should live our lives.

Some in the U.S. are criticizing Leo’s words as being those of a liberal pope, and when it comes to Catholic philosophy, he is a liberal.

However, what many conservatives today ignore are the words of the very conservative pope who uttered the same ones years ago. Here is the story of John Paul II and the philosophy of war — and the Just War Theory.

Iraq War was unjust

Pope John Paul II made clear that the proposed Iraq War was unjust in terms of Christian philosophy, using great philosophers like Thomas Aquinas.

Here is some history about how he condemned the war of George Bush and Dick Cheney et al.

The most consistent and frequent promoter of peace and human rights for the last two decades has been Pope John Paul II.

From Iraqi War I to Iraqi War II, he has echoed the voice of Paul VI, crying out before the United Nations in 1965: War No More, War Never Again!

John Paul II stated before the 2003 war that this war would be a defeat for humanity which could not be morally or legally justified.

In the weeks and months before the U.S. attacked Iraq, not only the Holy Father, but also one Cardinal and Archbishop after another at the Vatican spoke out against a "preemptive" or "preventive" strike. They declared that the just war theory could not justify such a war.

Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran said that such a "war of aggression" is a crime against peace. Archbishop Renato Martino, who used the same words in calling the possible military intervention a "crime against peace that cries out vengeance before God," also criticized the pressure that the most powerful nations exerted on the less powerful ones on the U.N. Security Council to support the war. The Pope spoke out almost every day against war and in support of diplomatic efforts for peace.

John Paul II sent his personal representative, Cardinal Pio Laghi, a friend of the Bush family, to remonstrate with the U.S. President before the war began. The message: God is not on your side if you invade Iraq.

Mark and Louise Swick, “Pope John Paul II calls War a Defeat for Humanity: Neoconservative Iraq Just War Theories Rejected,” Catholic.org, n.d.

A defeat for humanity

Bush and the neoconservatives who pushed for a war in Iraq attempted to call it a Just War. However, long before the war was launched in 2003, John Paul made clear that it was not,

Pope John Paul II has been looking forward to a private conversation with  President Bush since before the Iraq war started, and Vatican insiders say he plans to give the American president a piece of his mind.

Bush will be in Italy on Friday to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Rome by Allied forces on June 4, 1944. As part of his visit he will have a private audience with the pope before meeting with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and continuing on to France for D-Day celebrations over the weekend.

John Paul spoke out publicly against the war more than any other world leader and in the months leading up to the conflict the Vatican became a diplomatic stage for all the parties involved.

Back then the pope’s pleas fell on deaf ears at the White House, and even his personal envoy, Cardinal Pio Laghi, was given short shrift.  But now the pope has a chance to talk to the president face to face, and Bush will be forced to listen.  

Stephen Weeke, NBC News, June 3, 2004

Bush tried very hard to sway the pope to his point of view, but failed. While JP II agreed with Bush on abortion, their philosophies differed significantly on most other issues — particularly the war.

Not a Just War

Just as Pope Leo has explained that the Iran war is unjust, that was also the case with Pope John Paul and Iraq — and this was before the causis belli was destroyed,

John Paul said the war was not justifiable because preventive war is not self-defense. The pope was adamant that diplomatic avenues had not been exhausted when Bush made his ultimatum to Saddam Hussein.

Last week the pope publicly condemned torture as an affront to human dignity. The pope’s statements were seen as a veiled reference to the American abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison …

Where many conservatives in America share the pope’s views on abortion and contraception, their opinions diverge when it comes to the death penalty and military action. 

John Paul was also very critical of the sanctions imposed on Iraq following the Gulf War in 1991. He repeatedly called for them to be lifted because they were causing the Iraqi people to suffer, and not their leadership.

NBC

American government intimidated media about pope’s words

The first part of this is that Bush, Cheney, and their compatriots attempted to justify the war by using two areas of concern that turned out to be lies. They insisted that Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction, meaning a nuclear device, and that Hussein and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden had a close relationship.

Those were absolute lies, and the pope did not realize that — nor did her care.

Americans were largely unaware of the depth and importance of the opposition of Church leaders to an attack on Iraq, since for the most part the mainstream media did not carry the stories. In the same way, many Americans were unaware that Pope John Paul II spoke against the first Gulf War 56 times. Media in the United States omitted this from the commentaries on the war.

Many have also been unaware of the number of Iraqis killed in that war (not to mention the war which recently "ended").

Catholic Online.org

Today, Bush’s action is regarded as tantamount to a war crime. He has not justifiable reason to attack Iraq, and Pope John Paul made that very clear.

Pope Leo’s words are similar

The criticism of Pope Leo is making headlines throughout the world, and his words are very similar to John Paul’s.

Speaking to some Eastern Rite bishops, the pope made clear his criticism in the same vein as the previous pope had,

He told them that no cause can justify the spilling of innocent blood, and he urged them “to proclaim clearly that God does not bless any conflict; to cry out to the world that whoever is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, never stands on the side of those who yesterday wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”

Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, April 10, 2026

The beliefs of the popes is not a liberal or conservative one, nor it is a “political” topic. It is one of morality, and in that vein, the popes have more credibility than most politicians.