Conservative pastor and former GOP lawmaker Tony Perkins lashed out at Pope Leo XIV recently over the religious leaders’ comments against the U.S. war against Iran, telling the head of the Catholic Church that he “needs a history lesson,” and sparking outrage in the process.
In an apparent response to the Trump administration’s ongoing war against Iran, Pope Leo said last week that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war,” according to The New York Times. The remarks apparently didn’t sit well with Perkins, who has been among President Donald Trump’s fiercest defenders.
Perkins shared a clip this week on social media of his show “Washington Watch,” in which religious ethic scholar Marc LiVecche also criticized Pope Leo’s remarks.
“His rhetoric distances himself from both Catholic tradition and biblical tradition,” LiVecche said, arguing that Pope Leo’s remarks misunderstood the premise of “just war.”
Christopher Hale, a former Democratic Party congressional candidate who worked in the Obama administration, was taken aback by Perkins’ “attack.”
“Tony Perkins is attacking Pope Leo XIV during Holy Week,” Hale wrote Friday in a social media post on X. “MAGA anti-Catholicism knows no bounds.”
Massimo Faggioli, an Italian Catholic theologian and historian, was also stunned by Perkins’ remarks.
“The backlash against Pope Leo XIV is beginning,” Faggioli wrote in a social media post on X, according to an automated X translation of his post. “Now we will see whether the majority of American bishops will stand by and watch as they did with [Pope] Francis, or whether something will change."
Tony Perkins is attacking Pope Leo XIV during Holy Week.
MAGA anti-Catholicism knows no bounds. https://t.co/FIFcXAvRsp
— Christopher Hale (@ChristopherHale) April 3, 2026