re: Yes, the Pope just said this.

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Saint Joan of Arc believed that she was acting under divine guidance and that such guidance was why she was able to lead the French army in 1429 to victory at Orléans that repulsed an English attempt to conquer France during the Hundred Years’ War.

Is his stance that a Saint was lying or wrong?

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I think this would be categorized as self-defense, which the Catholic Church does not condemn, and explains why they were able to later canonize her. Apparently, there is a formal articulation of the distinction between just and unjust military action that both Leo and Francis have drawn from:

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The Vatican's Legal Framework

The Vatican’s official position draws heavily from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. While the Papacy teaches that "war is a failure" and never willed by God, Catholic dogma explicitly differentiates an offensive war of aggression from a defensive war. Under this framework, when a nation is unjustly attacked, its government has a moral right and a duty to use proportional force to protect its citizens.

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I was trying to look up if Leo has publicly supported Ukraine fighting back against Russia (to see if he's being a hypocrite). Pope Francis definitely made statements that condoned Ukraine defending itself:

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"To defend oneself is not only licit, it is also an expression of love toward one's homeland," Francis told reporters during the seven-and-a-half hour flight back to Rome following a three-day trip to Kazakhstan.

Francis characterized the decision of other nations to supply arms to Ukraine as a "political" calculation that "may be morally acceptable" under the right conditions. But he cautioned: "It can be immoral if done with the intentions of making more war."

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national catholic reporter

And it appears Leo has largely continued Francis' opinion that the Ukraine/Russia war is wrong, but Ukraine is justified in defending itself.

short Instagram reel

Personally, I do not trust Leo. Because I do respect the Church, I think its important to be precise in criticisms.

- Leo thinks dialog should be employed before conflict erupts. Sure.

- God never blesses war? Debatable, and context is required. As others mentioned, in the OT, God did. This may have pertained to an ontological distinction, real or implied (some Talmudic sorts still believe non-Jewish people are not fully human, thus don't have the same rights); maybe something else. It becomes a more gray area when one is defending. The Church canonized Joan of Arc for being a defender of France. The Church condones Ukraine for defending itself... if so, why would God withhold blessings from its soldiers?

I do not want to put words in the Pope's mouth... but in the OP, the article, in stating Leo's claim that God does not bless wars, continues with this part of his message:

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“Because, even if we are equipped with high-tech weapons, the Creator has endowed us with intelligence and free will to resolve conflicts as human beings and not as beasts.”

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Not necessarily problematic. Many countries have high-tech weapons, but there is perhaps no other country to which this might apply more than the USA, which makes it seem this might be an indirect swipe. The AP coverage of this same event certainly adds that slant:

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Pope Leo XIV amplified his condemnation of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran on Friday, saying that “God does not bless any conflict” and certainly doesn’t side with those who drop bombs.

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AP

"Those who drop bombs" would almost certainly be the US even if it wasn't explicitly mentioned by name earlier in the sentence. Curiously, it isn't in quotes, which means the author may be putting words in the Pope's mouth.

I am somewhat aware of some of the back and forth between the Pope and the US. But this AP article, which reads decisively different than the link in the OP, makes me wonder how much may be fabricated.

If Leo has been overtly critical of the US bombing Iran, and refuses to see it as potentially defensive, I disagree with him. It is beyond a doubt that Iran was working towards a nuke and has been an active facilitator of terrorism. There may be MIC and Israeli shenanigans beyond what most of us know that are egging the US further than they need to go, but taking out Iranian nuclear capability is unambiguously defensive in the big picture. To ignore that and to be myopic towards Islam, calling them peaceful, makes me question him.