Donald Trump and other officials cast the rescue of a US airman in Iran as an “Easter miracle” on Sunday, framing the operation in religious terms that portrayed America’s war as a just cause and divinely blessed, even as Pope Leo, the first US head of the Catholic Church, lamented against those who wage wars.
"The rescue was an Easter miracle," Trump told NBC's "Meet the Press," and some cabinet members followed with messages of their own.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent drew on the symbolism of Easter, the day Jesus was resurrected from the dead.
"The Easter miracle is considered the greatest victory in history," Bessent wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "And so, it’s fitting on this holiest of Christian days that a brave American warrior was rescued from behind enemy lines in one of the greatest search and rescue missions in military history."
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth wrote “God is good” on his private account on X on Sunday, reposting a social media post by Trump about the success of the rescue mission in Iran.
Axios, citing an interview with the Republican Trump and an unnamed US defence official, reported that was the phrase uttered by the rescued officer over the radio after he ejected from his aircraft.
Meanwhile, the Pope
The contrast in the messaging of the American government and that of the Catholic Church could not have been starker.
Pope Leo urged global leaders in his Easter message on Sunday to end the conflicts raging across the world and abandon any schemes for power, conquest or domination.
The Pope, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war, lamented in a special message to the thousands gathered in St Peter's Square that people "are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent".
"Let those who have weapons lay them down!" the first US pope exhorted. "Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace!"
Leo did not mention any specific conflicts in the message, known as the "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing. It was unusually brief and direct.
The pope said that the story of Easter, when the Bible says Jesus rose from the dead three days after not resisting his execution by crucifixion, shows that Christ was "entirely nonviolent".
"On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination, and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars," Leo urged.
Leo, who is known for choosing his words carefully, has been forcefully decrying the world's violent conflicts in recent weeks and ramping up his criticism of the Iran war. In a sermon for the Easter vigil on Saturday night, he urged people not to feel numbed by the scope of the conflicts raging across the world but to work for peace.
The Pope made a rare direct appeal to US President Donald Trump last Tuesday, urging him to find an "off-ramp" to end the Iran war.
In his address from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday to the Square below, decorated with thousands of brightly coloured flowers for the holiday, Leo offered brief Easter greetings in ten languages, including Latin, Arabic and Chinese.
The Pope also announced he would return to the Basilica on April 11 to host a prayer vigil for peace.
Trump’s Christian posture
Trump said at his inauguration in 2025 that god enabled him to survive an assassination attempt during the 2024 election campaign. “I felt then and believe even more so now that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by god to make America great again," he said then.
But his blending of religious references with threats of military action drew some criticism on Sunday.
Republican former US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, writing on X, accused Trump of betraying Christian values. She said Christians in the administration should be “pursuing peace” rather than “escalating war” and argued that Jesus’ teachings emphasized forgiveness and love, including toward enemies.
Last month, a group of 30 Democratic US lawmakers asked Defense Department Inspector General Platte Moring to investigate reports that some within the U.S. military had sought to justify the war in Iran by invoking "biblical end-time prophecies."
"At a time when billions of dollars and untold numbers of lives hang in the balance while the Trump administration wages a war of choice in Iran, the imperative of maintaining strict separation of church and state and protecting the religious freedom of our troops is especially critical," the letter to the inspector general said.
"We must ensure that military operations are guided by facts and the law, not end-times prophecy and extreme religious beliefs," the letter said.
Iran, whose political system is based on the Shia Islamic belief that religious authority derives from the line of imams descended from the Prophet Mohammad, routinely portrays the United States as “the Great Satan” and uses religious language in military propaganda, describing fallen fighters as martyrs.
