VATICAN CITY, March 10 — American Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, has said the US war in Iran is “not morally legitimate”, adopting a stronger tone than that of Pope Leo XIV.

In an interview with the Catholic Standard, the magazine of the Diocese of Washington, the cardinal said the war did not meet the criterion for a “morally legitimate war” under Catholic teaching because United States had not responded to an “existing or imminent and objectively verifiable attack by Iran”.

“As Pope Benedict declared categorically, Catholic teaching does not support preventative war, ie a war justified by speculation about events in the future,” he said in the interview published online yesterday. 

Nor should the war drag on, he said, “lurching from goal to goal and from strategy to strategy” given the US government’s aims in attacking Iran have been “absolutely unclear.”

“There is a logic to war that presses onward, escalating in its dimensions and timeline. Our country has fallen victim to this logic of war in the recent past, especially in the Middle East,” he said, warning of an “ongoing morass in Iran”.

“Lebanon may fall into civil war. The world’s oil supply is under great strain. The potential disintegration of Iran could well produce new and dangerous realities. And the possibility of immense casualties on all sides is immense,” he added.

At the weekend, another senior American cardinal, Blase Cupich, described a White House video montage that mixed Hollywood film clips with real footage of strikes on Iran as “horrifying” and “sickening.”

The statements by the cardinals contrast with the restraint shown by Leo XIV, who has not directly condemned the strikes carried out by the United States and Israel against Iran.

In recent weeks, the first American pope has opted for a strategy of delegating to the Church’s hierarchy the strongest reactions to various conflicts, including controversial policies of US President Donald Trump, sources have told AFP.

The Holy See traditionally maintains diplomatic neutrality. But its top diplomat, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin who serves as secretary of state, last week warned against the “erosion of international law” and the concept of a “preventative war” on Iran. — AFP