Fwd: "War is a Sacrilege"--Article by Art Laffin
Catholic Worker
From: Art Laffin <ArtL...@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, Mar 13, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Subject: "War is a Sacrilege"--Article by Art Laffin
To: Catholic Worker <catholicw...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2026 6:48 AM
To: artl...@hotmail.com <artl...@hotmail.com>
Subject: War is a Sacrilege
War is a Sacrilege"To be clear, there can be no Gospel justification for this war," says Art Laffin of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker (Washington, D.C), calling on the U.S. and Israel to seek peace immediately
Multi-faith Prayer Service
Outside Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C., March 5, 2026
By Art LaffinDespite numerous calls for a diplomatic solution to the conflict between the U.S. and Israel with Iran—even before the June 2025 attack on Iran by Israel and the U.S.—the Trump Administration, without Congressional approval, has initiated a war against Iran. No matter the shifting justifications for this war given by the Trump Administration, or what one thinks about the Iranian government, this war is an unspeakable affront against God and a crime against humanity, which must be absolutely condemned and stopped now! In talks held between U.S. and Iranian officials prior to the war, the Trump Administration called on Iran to capitulate to U.S. demands or face military reprisals. U.S. officials were not pursuing a true diplomatic solution, but instead seeking their own ambitions, and the imperial ambitions of the nuclear-armed state of Israel. The jointly initiated U.S.-Israeli war against Iran resulted in the deaths of Iran’s supreme leader and other military officials. To date (March 11) more than 1,300 Iranians have been killed, including 175 school children and staff who died on February 28, 2026, from the U.S.-Israel bombing of the Shajarah Tayyebeh girls’ school in Minab, Iran. More than 5,000 sites have been struck, and more than 10,000 civilian sites across Iran have been damaged in U.S.-Israeli attacks. Numerous people have been injured and displaced. Iran has responded with retaliatory strikes in the region. Casualties also include: eight U.S. soldiers, thirteen Israelis, fourteen from different Gulf states, and over 570 in Lebanon. As a result of Israeli and U.S. bombings of oil depots, Tehran residents have reported toxic air and soot covering streets and cars. These toxins have caused throat pain and burning eyes. “Damage to petroleum facilities in Iran risks contaminating food, water and air — hazards that can have severe health impacts especially on children, older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions,” the director of the World Health Organization said. The financial cost of the war is staggering: the war is costing up to an estimated $1 billion a day. Instead of heeding United Nations and papal appeals, the calls of other nations and various faith leaders, peace organizations, and people of conscience to stop the war and pursue a diplomatic solution, the Trump Administration and Israeli government have rather intensified it. This war has now escalated into a wider Middle East conflict, and Israel has expanded its military intervention in Lebanon. The Trump Administration has called for the unconditional surrender of Iran and has warned that “Iran may face complete destruction and certain death.” Secretary of War Hegseth asserted that the Department of Defense will continue its relentless bombing of Iran: “Death and destruction from the sky. All day long.” U.S. pilots “have maximum authorities granted personally by the president and yours truly.” ...Rules of engagement “are designed to unleash American power, not shackle it...We can sustain this fight easily, for as long as we need to...We will take all the time we need to make sure we succeed.” The Pentagon and Israeli military are also now considering deploying special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Christian Nationalists have cited biblical justification for what is described as a “Holy War.” A combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers at a briefing on March 2 that the Iran war is part of God’s plan and that President Donald Trump was “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,” according to independent journalist Jonathan Larsen, as published on Substack. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an organization that has been working against religious extremism in the United States military for two decades, has reported more than 200 new complaints since the initial strikes against Iran, with members across all services claiming that high-ranking officers are tying the mission overseas to fulfilling a Christian prophecy. That complaint was made by a non-commissioned officer and provided to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. More than 95% of the foundation’s members are Christians. On March 5, 2026, some pastors and faith leaders were hosted by the White House to pray for the president and military as they wage war against Iran. To be clear, there can be no Gospel justification for this war. It is a heresy to claim so. Jesus commands His followers for all time to reject all that is contrary to God’s commandment to love our neighbor. Moreover, He commands us to love our enemies and never to kill, forever put away the sword, to renounce idolatry and empire, and resist all violence and killing. Furthermore, Jesus commands us “to take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” As the only country who has ever used nuclear weapons, and which has since threatened to use them again against its adversaries, the United States must take the log out of its own eye and repent for the nuclear sin and its warmaking. The U.S. cannot legitimately call to account the wrongdoing of others until it first repents for its own wrongdoing. In the words of Pope Francis, “war is a sacrilege.” Pope Francis also asserted that the very possession of nuclear weapons is immoral. In light of the perilous Iran war, the words of Pope Francis need to be heeded by all people of faith. In April 2022, Pope Francis published his book Against War: The Courage to Build Peace. In the introduction, Francis writes:
U.S. military and nuclear policy endanger the world, not Iran’s potential nuclear capability, which the Trump Administration uses to justify its military actions and claims to have “obliterated” after its attack last June. The Trump Administration’s military action against Iran marks yet another deadly chapter of U.S. aggression in the Middle East, and has striking similarities to the war the U.S. has previously waged against Iraq. In both instances, false claims regarding potential nuclear threats posed by Iraq and now Iran were used to justify the attacks by the U.S. Administration. These are manufactured wars based on fabricated justifications. During the first Trump Administration, the U.S. withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Deal and the INF Treaty with Russia. There would never have been a manufactured crisis of the U.S. attack against Iran last June, or now, if the Iran Nuclear Deal had still been in place. Moreover, in its 2019 Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations, policymakers from the Trump Administration declared that a limited nuclear war could be waged and won. This doctrine was the latest manifestation of a long-held existing Pentagon policy positing that the U.S. must be prepared at all times to use whatever military force is necessary, including nuclear weapons, to protect its vital interests in the world. On March 5th, a prayer service calling for an end to the war against Iran was held outside the Cannon House Office Building across from the U.S. Capitol (see attached photo). During the service, two veterans spoke: Anthony Aguilar, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and Special Forces Officer with the Green Beret who served for 25 years, and Josie Guilbeau, a former Army All Source Intel Analyst who served for 17 years. As Catholics, they both condemned the war against Iran as immoral and illegal and demanded that the U.S. and Israel stop it immediately. On March 7, Chicago Cardinal Cupich issued a statement criticizing a social media video posted by the White House Friday featuring footage from the ongoing war in Iran spliced with scenes from action movies. He stated:
And on March 9, Washington Cardinal Robert McElroy asserted that war in Iran is not “morally legitimate.” The Iran war is immoral and illegal and Christians should not participate in it. They should heed the command of Jesus and follow the example of St. Maximillian and St. Oscar Romero. March 12 marks the martyrdom of St. Maximillian, a 21-year-old North African who refused to serve in the Roman army because of his faith and was beheaded in 295 AD. March 24 marks the martyrdom of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero. In his sermon on March 23, 1980, the day before he was assassinated while celebrating the Eucharist, Archbishop Romero proclaimed: “...Against any order a man may give to kill, God’s law must prevail, “You Shall Not Kill.” ...No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one is obliged to obey an immoral law.” We need to act on St. Romero’s admonition. Moreover, soldiers should refuse to fight and kill and disobey immoral and unlawful orders, especially now regarding the Iran war. Christians, Muslims and Jews are all descendants of Abraham and children of God. During this Holy Season of Lent and Ramadan, and as the Holy Days of Passover are approaching from April 1-9, peace should be waged, not war. Church leaders and all people of faith and conscience must urgently demand that the Trump Administration and those members of Congress who support war and regime change in Iran stop the war now and, along with Israel, pursue a path of peace with Iran. Dr. King exhorts us: “The choice today is...either nonviolence or nonexistence.”
Art Laffin is a member of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, WDC and a Pax Christi USA 2016 Teacher of Peace. He is the author of the new edition of “The Risk of the Cross: Living Gospel Nonviolence in the Nuclear Age.” An edited version of this piece appeared on Pax Christi USA, with the title: “Stop the US-Israeli war against Iran.” It appears here with the permission of the author.
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