Christian Leaders Around the World Split on Wisdom of American Strikes on Iran

Catholic and Evangelical leaders are taking different views about the American and Israeli strikes on Iran, with Pope Leo XIV urging all parties to return to diplomacy while conservative Christians like Franklin Graham thanking the president for the offensive that took out Iran’s Supreme Leader and several top officials.The remarks are indicative of both political and theological divisions among Christian churches, including interpretations of Israel’s role in the New Testament, and the Islamic Regime’s suppression of religion.“Stability and peace are not achieved through mutual threats, nor through the use of weapons, which sow destruction, suffering, and death, but only through reasonable, sincere, and responsible dialogue,” Pope Leo said in his traditional Catholic prayer, the Angelus, on Sunday.“I make a heartfelt appeal to all the parties involved to assume the moral responsibility of halting the spiral of violence before it becomes an unbridgeable chasm,” he continued. The president of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Franklin Graham, on the other hand, thanked President Trump for “giving the Iranian people a chance to be free.”“Pray for him and for all those in our military who are risking their lives to protect America and bring freedom to the Iranian people. This regime has been killing Americans for years, and we haven’t had a president who had the guts to take them on. Thank you Mr. President for standing up to bring this evil empire to an end,” he posted.Christian leaders around the world have weighed in on the strikes, which took out dozens of Iran’s Islamic leaders. Their priorities spanned a range of lay and religious concerns. Catholic leaders in several Mideast nations who tend to the 2.2 million Catholics — most migrant workers from other nations — emphasized following instructions of civil authorities to remain safe. They also urged prayers of protection.“Let us remain united in faith and charity, caring especially for the elderly, the sick, and the vulnerable,” said the apostolic vicar of northern Arabia, Bishop Aldo Berardi, according to the National Catholic Reporter. “May the Lord protect you and your families, and may Our Lady of Arabia, our mother, watch over us all.”A group of Southern Baptists on a mission in Jerusalem also spoke more to existential concerns before praying for believers across the region. “I’m grateful to God that we can confirm our missionary families are currently unharmed,” International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood told the Baptist Press on Saturday after he and a group of pastors and their wives hunkered down in a bomb shelter following retaliatory attacks by Iran. Christian pastor David Nasser, whose father was a high-ranking member of Iran’s military when he fled with his family to America at the start of the Iranian revolution in 1979, said that often is the case that the regions where strife occurs most are those that are the most religious.“The fastest growing church in the world is the underground Chritian church in Iran,” he told Fox News Sunday.Pastor Nasser, based in Tennessee, said that Iran, whose population largely followed Zoroastrianism before the revolution, had its religious identity suppressed as a result of the revolution. He said he hopes that the church has a role in helping Iranians achieve “more than just a new revolution but revival.” “We are waking up to the hope that this is the dawn of a new season,” he said. “This is both overwhelming hope and terrifying and exhilarating for our people that we might actually see the people of Iran freed. It’s just such an incredible moment for us.”The pope did not limit his concerns about war to Iran. He also urged a return to dialogue between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which last week exchanged attacks on its disputed border.

Christian Leaders Around the World Split on Wisdom of American Strikes on Iran

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