Trump and Pete Hegseth invoke religion in Iran war, likening F-15 pilot rescue to Jesus Christ resurrection; Pope Leo XIV objects

With the US-Israel war on Iran intensifying and casualties continuing to rise, President Donald Trump suggested the conflict has divine backing, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth likened the rescue of a downed American airman to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

At a White House news conference on Monday(April 6), Pete Hegseth traced the mission’s timeline using Christian symbolism, noting the F-15E was downed on “Good Friday,” while the airman survived by hiding “in a cave, a crevice” through Saturday, drawing parallels to the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ.

The conflict, which began on February 28, has escalated into a wider regional war with missile strikes, downed US aircraft, and thousands of deaths, including civilians.


“A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for, a nation rejoicing,” Hegseth said. “God is good.”

Moments later, Donald Trump echoed the religious framing, saying the conflict had divine backing and that “God is good” and wants people to be cared for.

According to the New York Times website, Trump added: “God doesn’t like what’s happening. I don’t like what’s happening. Everyone says I enjoy it. I don’t enjoy this.”

Hegseth’s remarks are the latest instance of the defense secretary invoking Christian theology in the context of the war. Earlier, he had called on Americans to pray for victory in the Middle East “in the name of Jesus Christ.”

Pope Leo XIV rebukes religious framing

The use of religious framing has drawn criticism from Christian leaders, including Pope Leo XIV, who has rejected suggestions that the conflict carries divine sanction. The pope has repeatedly urged an end to the war and warned against invoking Christianity to justify violence. In a recent homily, he said the Christian mission has often been “distorted by a desire for domination, entirely foreign to the way of Jesus Christ.”

Hegseth has also voiced admiration for the Crusades, medieval wars between Christian and Muslim forces over control of the Middle East.

The defense secretary has a “Deus vult” (“God wills it”) tattoo on his right biceps, a phrase he describes as a Crusader battle cry. In his 2020 book American Crusade, he acknowledged the wars were “bloody” and marked by “unspeakable tragedy,” but argued they were justified in defending Christian Europe.

Hegseth’s rhetoric reflects strands of conservative US Christianity that link nationalism with faith, with many of Donald Trump’s supporters casting their political struggle as a “holy war” to restore a Christian identity to the nation.