Should the pope speak out on wars and current political affairs?

[thegreenyogi]

[Friendlybro79]

Yes because too many people are using Christianity as an excuse for war and using God's name in vain. Someone that's a theological leader should remind people of real Christian values and not political made up versions. I think he has handled everything with grace considering how Trump has bad mouthed him.

[katiesmuff]

Which is exactly what the POPE did say!

[strateguy632]

He is a religious leader so should only teach religious ideas. Political not only alienated half his followers, it is just misuse of a teacher to tell religious followers, who came for religious guidance, who they should vote for. That is dirty like bait and switch. Like a college professor adding in political messages.

[WhiteBoyChill]

And he literally made up a Bible quote to push his own narrative

[WhiteBoyChill]

Blasphemy

[katiesmuff]

He attempts to give the message that peace is much better than unnecessary wars made up by a tyrant insane pile of horse shit.

[Sammy098]

Well said

[jazzy34]

He can speak out on whatever he wants. Just like anyone else. What is the bigissue here? Of course he can.

[Zack-Bann]

Ever pope in history did that so why shouldn’t this one


If the church’s message is that of peace in the world then saying something is the least he can do


Some might argue he does too little as it is

[RavVid]

The Pope governs the Vatican. The Vatican is another of these countries - like Russia and Iran - who likes to think they still have prestige and power despite all the evidence to the contrary.

So he comes out with some drivel that lambs should lie down with lions that everybody ignores and pays no attention to.

[Bricealan]

@thegreenyogi We are supposed to have a separation between CHURCH and STATE, and the Pope should keep his mouth shut regarding Secular affairs and stick to the affairs of the church. Everybody want so to get in on the act, and the Pope has no frickin business sticking his pontificating nose into it.

[Danzigdawson]

@Bricealan The pope is not required to abide by the massively unenforced separation of church and state that is supposed to exist in the United States. As you may or may not know, he is the leader of the catholic church and lives in the Vatican, a sovereign city-state located in Rome, Italy.

The ones you should be outraged about; those who should abide by it are christian f**kwits like that cunt karoline leavitt (trump's professional liar for hire who always sports a huge fucking cross around her ugly fat neck), petey kegstand, who holds church services in the fucking pentagon and, most of all, orange don mussolini the pedophile, who is posting images of himself as jesus and paying lip service to the fanatical christian right even though he probably is the most depraved and immoral pig fucker ever to roam the earth.

[KostasKouvalis]

I think it's okay for him to pray for peace, but I don't think he has enough foreign policy knowledge and experience to be criticizing world leaders on why they're making the decisions they're making. And if he IS gonna do that, he should be objective instead of just villainizing one side.

[KostasKouvalis]

If he's gonna criticize though, he should be fair game for criticism too

[Maybe_Maybe_not]

Lol, what objectivity? It's the Pope's role to advocate against war, it's a moral standpoint that does not need to care about foreign affairs expertise.

[strawberryapple]

I agree with you 💯 percent.

[KostasKouvalis]

@strawberryapple Thanks😂

[888theGreat]

he says what the bible says about such matters in his opinion

[katiesmuff]

Your not giving a person in the Pope's position enough credit for being quite aware of current affairs and common sense. There is no secret that every person on this planet who is old enough to read, watch and understand that our current president is a demented, lying, cheating, convicted criminal who is insane like a mad dog.

[NathanDavis]

what's funny to me is that... he probably has said NOT A SINGLE WORD on the Epstein files...

so I think someone should remind the Pope about... that speck and the log thing

[Twalli]

He's the world's leader on the Catholic Faith, that means he has to speak on what God believes in relation to what is currently going on. I doubt God's view on the events of 1043 would interest most people. (I don't actually know what, if anything of interest happened that year).

[Jersey2]

As a Catholic, the Pope should clean house in the Church. Pedos need to be given over to the law. Great damage has been done.

He also needs to stay out of politics. The Democrats would be howling if he were on the side of the Right.

[katiesmuff]

I guess that means the MAGA REPUBLICANS are a godless group who are not the Christians they claim to be. Seems to me they are the ones who push for Religion in schools, banning certain books, hating those who believe differently, dress differently, love differently, for women to have no rights. In general just a total hateful group

[Jersey2]

@katiesmuff Godless? No. That’s a leap. Religion in schools isn’t a bad thing. In public schools it can be problematic as not everyone believe the same which is why, or one reason why, we need school vouchers. Actually the primary reason is our schools are crap plus they teach things that others don’t believe such as having Drag Queens in to talk about sexuality to prepubescent children. Vouchers solves this plus gives kids a quality education but the school union is too in-bed with Democrat politicians. My kids went to a public school in a heavily Republican county that was in the top 500 High Schools out of 26,000. The cost per student was $1,000 less than the public schools 25 miles away that was run by Democrats and it had a 50% drop out rate and absolutely dismay scores. So many today in these types of school graduate illiterate… many people do hate the thought of that and the corruption that enables it. I don’t know if you have kids but it is troubling to many parents.

Books will be banned no matter who is running things at school. Can you not think of types of books you would want banned? So it’s not the banning then that is the problem, it is about what is banned. Conservatives aren’t even allowed to speak at Universities and yet the schools call themselves Universities. I don’t know if you went to one but the word university was selected to show that they would have ideas from all over, the universe of ideas. But that has been taken over and ideas are now banned which is a tragedy.

There is more to expand on but breakfast calls.

[katiesmuff]

Seems like a lot of tongue waggling of many unsubstantiated things which you could not document. I'm not on this rag long enough to debate all your bullshit phony MAGA claims.

[Jersey2]

@katiesmuff Sounds like a dodge to me. Which items do you need substantiated?

[katiesmuff]

Lets see you think that taxpayers should help pay to put your kid through a religious schools and if the area you live in has sub par public schools for any student, step up and work to get it corrected. No matter how you approach schools there will always be those unwilling to learn and fall by the wayside. I am not aware of any school who is preaching any kind of alternative lifestyle other than mention possibly that there are people like that. You sound like one the the one's who think black history should no longer be taught in schools, that our children of today shouldn't learn about what bastards we were to the blacks and god forbid I mention the native Americans. I'd like to see where your information came from on the 26000 school BS. I actually have 4, a daughter who will be 21 shortly and she is a junior at Florida State in a pre med program, then there are 3 boys 12, 8, and 6. As far as conservatives speaking at Universities I'm only aware of three in the entire country which are Harvard, Columbia, and NYU which sometimes hold back and isn't that something three of the best in the US where more fucking filthy rich lying bastards graduate from. I did end up getting a degree in business management, but it was all done online after I got older

[Jersey2]

@katiesmuff @katiesmuff You assume a lot of what I think so it is good I can say in my words what I believe. First, all beliefs are flexible which is why we have conversations which unfortunately is missing in the world anymore.

My goal with regards to school tokens, which I personally don’t need anymore as my 3 kids each have their Masters, is to make schools better for most kids. Competition will make schools better. I think of the analogy that I am not forced to buy an American car through taxes, same should be true with schools. Schools in the US are ranked 20 to 35 in the world depending on the methodology used. I was not thinking for support of religious schools at all but rather simply better schools. That is the goal, better schools for everyone. So in effect, this wouldn’t be better for me even if my kids were going to school because I already selected an excellent school district and didn’t need vouchers personally. This is for others who don’t have that ability. This exactly for the people you think I hate as well as all others. They can leave the terrible school and go to an amazing school.

This will have to be a multi-reply answer as the questions posed require some detailed answers

[Jersey2]

- La Costa Heights Elementary School (Encinitas Union School District, CA): 5th-graders required to read and teach the book "My Shadow is Pink" (promoting gender fluidity) to kindergarten students in a mandatory buddy program without parental notice or opt-out. Federal court required notification and opt-outs for such lessons.

- Montgomery County Public Schools elementary programs (MD): LGBTQ-inclusive storybooks on same-sex marriage, transgender children, and Pride themes integrated into K-5 language arts classes; district initially removed parental opt-out rights. U. S. Supreme Court in 2025 ruled in favor of parents' religious opt-out rights.

- Escondido Union School District and statewide CA policies: Policies that discouraged or barred teachers from notifying parents about students' preferred names, pronouns, or social transitioning at school. U. S. Supreme Court in 2026 blocked these policies, citing violations of parental rights.

- Chicago Public Schools various elementary schools: Health curriculum teaching names of private body parts in pre-K/early grades and introducing "gender identity" definitions starting in 1st grade, criticized for being too explicit or premature for young children.

[Jersey2]

- Leon County Schools / Deerlake Middle (Tallahassee, FL): School created a "gender support plan" with a student (new names/pronouns and bathroom discussions) without notifying parents, highlighting concerns over secret social transitioning policies.

- Los Angeles Unified School District elementary materials: Resources instructing young students on becoming "trans activists" and warnings about unsupportive parents, with allegations of social transitioning support without parental notification.

Many states now limit or ban classroom instruction on gender identity/sexuality in early grades, and recent Supreme Court rulings have strengthened parental notification and opt-out rights. Cases often focus more on social transitioning and notification than explicit sexual content.

So many of these stories all the time. Many with teachers fired for ignoring what is law. And of course Drag Queens and Trans coming to school to read stories. Why do they always just want to read to children? How about old people in old age homes? It is always the children.

[Jersey2]

Black history and Native American history were and are taught in schools and that is good. Where I grew up we learned about what Indians tribes were in our area. Schools were named with tribal names. Towns and rivers have Indian names. 600,000 dead White guys died in the Civil War over the rights of Blacks. It IS history, not just history for some.

But in later schooling the expanded history of slavery should be taught including that Black tribal leaders in Africa sold their people or the people they conquered, that there were American Black Slave Holders: “ 1830 Census data (most cited benchmark): Approximately 3,775 free Black slaveholders (including mixed-race) in the South owned a total of about 12,760 enslaved people.”

It should also be taught that there are slaves today. Slaves in a city near you. Sex slaves and others. It is real and no one gives a damn. That is what should be highlighted because inly that can be changed.

[Jersey2]

For High School rankings among the 26,000 to 27,500 of them there are many actually. The one I referenced was Newsweek which did a list until 2016. There is also US News and World Report which is also famous for ranking colleges. There is also something called Niche that ranks as well.

www.newsweek.com/.../americas-top-high-schools-2016
www.usnews.com/.../national-rankings
www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-high-schools/

So quick to call BS. These are well known.

[Jersey2]

Anyway, I am glad you asked as communication is key in these times. It would also probably surprise you that my gay, married to a woman sister from NYC and the fashion industry is a much more solid Republican than me and I am pretty solid although both she and I have voted Democrat in the past. My condo building’s maintenance man is Black and had Trump signs all over it during the past elections. Republicans have one in four Black men voting for Trump, slightly more than half of Hispanic men voted for Trump, slightly more than half of women. It isn’t a White straight, Black hating, Gay hating, woman hating group. It is more diverse than you know.

[Anonymous]

Depends what he's saying. I remember Pope Francis speaking out against capital punishment. And he said that no nation should execute anyone because every life has value. I get his position. And it's fine for him to hold this opinion. But the Vatican is not agreeing to house, feed and administer to those who've been sentenced to death. And until such time that they are willing to do that, then it's just the pontiffs opinion.

In short, nut up or shut up.😆

[Maybe_Maybe_not]

Given his task, flock and responsibilities, he must open his mouth yes, just like any other spiritual leader.

[lightbulb27]

Of course, but he should cover both sides. You can't say stop the war and ignore the murder of the Iranian woman and all the other iranian women. Or the other abuses.

[molonski2]

Yes , and the Pope has an extremely important role to play , remains anti war , and certainly in this ludicrous circumstance , absolutely useless.. as we're all the others..

[exitseven]

No, and the Pope should not pretend that he has humanity's best interests. Where was he when Iran Mullahs killed 40,000 protesters? Where was he when thousands of Christians in Africa were slaughtered?

[lilBigPotato]

Of course he can tell his opinion like anyone else and calling for peace is a good thing.

[Sunrising]

With all the conflicts in history mainly arising from Religion, I think the Pope would do well to be careful what he says about current political affairs.

[Sunrising]

I think religious people should always try to bring about peace in the World, not speak out when it suits them.

[Sunrising]

I'm not a religious person but in all the religions the message from the person they worship is to live peacefully.
As of 2020 over 80% of the world's population identify with a religious group.
Christianity 28 - 31%
Islam 23 - 28%
Hindus 15%
Buddhists 4 - 7%
Other religions 6%
What I'm saying is why can't these religious groups get together and make a peacefully world like their religions tell them to do?
We are showing incredible human achievement by putting man on the Moon and possibly going to Mars, but is living peacefully in the world beyond the achievements of the human race?

[Horsegirly2001]

Absolutely he should speak out. If something is morally wrong he should say it.

[WhiteBoyChill]

Whats morally wrong is the fact that the Pope spends his time criticizing Trump yet says almost nothing (if anything at all) about the 30,000 people Iran massacred, or the Christians being killed in Nigeria.

Or even just coming forward and condemning the fact that Iran is a dictatorship that treats women horribly.

A feckless coward and cuck the man is.

Being silent when it actually matters, and criticizing when its the popular thing to do

[Horsegirly2001]

@WhiteBoyChill Nigeria has one of the largest and most active Catholic populations in Africa, estimated at approximately 30 to 35 million members as of 2025–2026. Catholics represent roughly 10.6% to 12.6% of Nigeria's total population, with a high concentration in the southern region and a reported 94% weekly Mass attendance rate.

"It is with sorrow and concern that I learned of the recent attacks against various communities in Nigeria leading to a heavy loss of life," the Pope said, speaking on Sunday after reciting the noonday Angelus..

On the evening of 3 February, at least 160 people were killed in the village of Woro, in the country’s central-west region.

"I express my prayerful closeness to all the victims of violence and terrorism," the Pope added. "I likewise hope that the competent Authorities will continue to work with determination to ensure the safety and protection of the life of every citizen."

[Horsegirly2001]

Pope Leo has s point. All trump has dome is galvanised the Iranian leadership and its support.

[WhiteBoyChill]

He really doesn't tho. If anything Iran is currently in the weakest position its ever been.

Either way tho he’s still spent much more time criticizing Trump than the murderers and terrosists of the world

[Horsegirly2001]

@WhiteBoyChill so was Sadam in 1992 but still lasted until 2003 when invaded.

[Dargil]

He is free to say anything he wants. But his role as the pontiff, does not give him insider intelligence. I don't believe that Jesus talks to him.

[Spencer10]

If they are moral issues then yes... that is the Popes job.

[DryGermanGuy]

The Popes always have. And why shouldn't they?

[Jessica405]

He is entitled to express his opinion, as we all are.

[Shiprex]

Yes, he's got a platform to spread positive messages and criticise negative behaviors.

[WhiteBoyChill]

Yet the dude literally sits on his ass and does nothing when Iran decided to massacre 30,000 civilians a few weeks back.

What a great fcking guy

[WhiteBoyChill]

Says nothing*

[Shiprex]

@WhiteBoyChill no, the Vatican did not sit around and do nothing. That was the rest of the world. The Vatican condemned these acts but rw media only frothy and ignores reality

[jshm2]

Why not?

You get fuckwit hillbillies on trailer parks speaking out on wars and political affairs, but somehow the pope isn't allowed to?

[purplepoppy]

Not speaking out is as good as supporting. War should be a last resort not a money making scam.

[Iron_Man]

That’s up to him but he doesn’t understand you let people like that have their own way they’ll destroy everybody. We’re going after their Nuclear technology not killing Civilians

[SeekerOfTruth007]

the Pope can't even wipe his own ass. He should keep his mouth shut about just about everything, especially his false religion.

[goaded]

You didn't find it yet, then. Truth.

[TonyMetal___86]

Yes, the pope has the right to speak his kind and opinion about everything, people might like it or not but he's doing the right thing...

[Still-alive]

Its not a ‘should’ but he definitely can. And since he’s American a lot of people listen to him. Its a nice contrast to Trump!

[Snakeyes7]

The problem isn't that the pope is speaking out on current political affairs, it's just that he ignores everything else that's going on and then criticizes Trump for trying to stop them.

[WhiteBoyChill]

Exactly. Dude sat on his ass and was silent all that time while Iran was out massacring 30,000 people, then goes on to spend all this time condemning the very same guy trying to put a stop to them.

[Godihateyou]

Only if he loves terrorism, whole sale slaughter of innocent people and evil. Jesus said suffer evil not to live
The pope said supplicate evil in the name of peace. The pope and Jesus are too weak for righteousness

[loveslongnails]

Why shouldn't he? He's entitled to an opinion like anyone else.

[Kabluie]

The Vatican is a sovereign state, he can rightfully speak on anything from war to politics

[SieghardWalsung]

So long as he continues to say things that I agree with, yes.

[dudeinohio]

Religion and politics must be kept separate. He can have a personal opinion as a man; but not an official stand as pope.

[goaded]

Not even the Ten Commandments?

[QuietRunner]

The Pope can speak out on anything he wants a moral and spiritual leader. Just take his word as guidance as long as you follow the Catholic worldview.

[darkcloud1945]

He should take care of his own house first. Then stay out of world politics

[beefcakebradybatson]

D**N SKIPPY, because he's we Catholics' worldwide leader.

[Mike_Hum]

Not when the Catholic church is blatantly hypocritical.

[Danzigdawson]

All flavors of christianity are equally worthless and should be banned.

[Mike_Hum]

@Danzigdawson yawn.

[Danzigdawson]

@mike_hum Sometimes, things that are posted are just plain, boring facts.

[Mike_Hum]

@Danzigdawson a 40 year old supposed man acting like an angsty teenager is just pathetic.

[Danzigdawson]

@mike_hum Well, it's way worse in your case: you're a supposed 54 year old man with a juvenile sex pun of a user name and you outrank anyone here on g@g when it comes to dumbshit beliefs and insignificant -or just plain stupid- opinions.

Plus, you always seem to try to pick a fight with people who are way above of your intellectual league and you don't seem to get that you're just another braindead punching bag amongst so many others for us superior people to vent the anger that we have about the current sociopolitical state of affairs — which is the end result of decades of shady politicians falsely claiming that shit-for-brains pipsqueeks like you have something valuable to say, when in fact you should all be made to bow before us, serve us and thank us for the opportunity.

[Mike_Hum]

@Danzigdawson aw you’re trying so hard. It’s cute.

[Danzigdawson]

@mike_hum Jesus titty-fucking christ... You're always using the same fucking comebacks. Be a dumbshit; but be an original one.

[Mike_Hum]

@Danzigdawson but it's so fun watching this little act from you.

[Danzigdawson]

@mike_hum At least it's fun. Your own little act is pretty boring.

[Mike_Hum]

@Danzigdawson I mean fun like how it's fun watching monkeys throwing their poop at each other.

[Danzigdawson]

@mike_hum Watching monkeys throw their shit at each other... You think "fun activity" and that's what you come up with...
Let that sink in for a moment.

[Mike_Hum]

@Danzigdawson I also like reading your idiocy.

[Danzigdawson]

@mike_hum You like to read what you consider to be idiotic statements and you enjoy watching monkeys throw shit at each other...

[Mike_Hum]

@Danzigdawson And all of is under your user name.

[Danzigdawson]

@mike_hum... and "all of" is under my user name.

[Mike_Hum]

@Danzigdawson nitpicking typos is the last bastion of the simple mind, lol.

[msc545]

Absolutely yes. There is no reason for him not to.

[Amur8711]

He shouldn't be welcoming Islam that wants to him and all Christians and Jews.

[Anonymous]

If this guy, who calls himself a "pope" wants to speak out with his personal views, then the 1st Amend surely allows it.

[RedInnocent69]

That’s kind of his job, to show moral leadership

[thegreenyogi]

I agree. But the world seems to suggest otherwise.

[RedInnocent69]

No, only whiny manchild and his followers because he the Pope hurt their feelings for saying what was painfully obvious and he was ethically obligated to say…

[thegreenyogi]

I know. That's who I was referring to. I didn't want to say his name because it's best to keep a low profile in reference to the man that should not be named. Loo!

[thegreenyogi]

#Lol

[Anonymous]

No!! He just be the Pope and do his religious obligation!

[BCRanger10]

Yes, he can and should.

[4ngelic]

yes, that's part of his role as pope

[supercutebutt]

Isn’t that his purpose?

[WhiteBoyChill]

No, he should mind his own damn business

[Anonymous]

Sure, after all, he is the head of the state.

[Sammy098]

Yes, he can and he should

[888theGreat]

Of course

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

No. F the Pope.

[Tungi]

Yes he should

[Pterodon]

Nope. Shut up