Full interview: U.S. Military Archbishop Timothy Broglio on Iran

[0:01] we turn now to archbishop timothy brolio the archdiocese for the military services usa [0:06] which oversees more than 200 catholic priests serving as chaplains in the united states military [0:11] thank you so much for being here uh we really appreciate it and part of the reason we wanted [0:16] to hear from you is is yours is a unique ministry in the sense that you don't oversee a geographic [0:21] region or any real significant church real estate you essentially minister on bases and the [0:28] battlefield and so given ongoing operations right now in the middle east in the caribbean [0:35] in other parts of the world i'm curious what is your spiritual guidance to a service member [0:40] who comes seeking it well um thank you very much for the opportunity and it's uh it varies [0:46] depending on uh on where the person is uh we're dealing with the situation in the middle east now [0:52] for example where um the chaplains are still in place but many of the uh dependents [0:59] have been moved to europe or back to the united states so they find themselves in a situation [1:05] where the faithful to whom they were ministering are either gone or they're in hotels so that [1:10] changes the whole reality and then there are others of course who are with the troops that are [1:16] have been moved in and of course their minister ministry in a certain sense is a little more [1:22] a little more regular but um it's still a challenge because of the situation given that [1:29] you're [1:30] a priest ministering to people in the military i imagine much of your work much of your focus [1:34] is built around saint augustine and the idea of just war or when is war justified [1:40] the idea that it's only waged as a necessity and in order [1:44] that peace may be obtained and more broadly perhaps that the response is proportional [1:49] correct that's to gloss over pretty deep teachings but essentially that's the the root of it [1:55] i know that after the president for example threatened to take greenland by force you had said [2:00] in an interview it doesn't seem acceptable to invade a friendly nation and that such rhetoric [2:04] tarnishes the images of the united states you said it would be an illegal and immoral order to [2:08] kill deliberately the survivors aboard an alleged venezuelan drug boat if they don't post an [2:13] immediate lethal threat to our armed forces so given what's going on in the middle east i'm [2:18] curious is the war with iran justified i would think under the justify under the just war theory [2:27] it is not because while there is a [2:30] there was a threat with nuclear arms it's a it's compensating for a threat before the the threat is [2:38] actually is actually realized and i think there i would i would line myself up with pope leo who [2:46] has been urging for negotiation i realize also that you could say well with whom are you going [2:53] to negotiate and that that is that is a problem but in the meantime lives are being lost both [3:01] there and also among our our troops so it's it is a it is a concern and so if you're hearing from a [3:09] service member who says if your teachings if your guidance is this is not justified what am i to do [3:17] as a catholic who's in the service and that that's a very good question because obviously the way uh [3:24] conscientious objection is set up in the united states military you cannot object to a specific [3:30] war or a specific action [3:32] you can only object to i'm opposed to war um so i would think it depends on where you are [3:40] in the uh in the chain of command obviously you know the marine who's given an order he's not [3:46] in a position really to to resist that order i mean he has to obey unless it's it's less it's [3:52] clearly immoral um and then he would probably have to speak to his you know to his chaplain [3:58] to his chain of command the question might be would you know would would would generals or [4:03] admirals have space to perhaps say can we look at this a different way right um but having spoken [4:10] to some of them too they're they're also in the same in the same dilemma um so i guess my counsel [4:16] would be to do as little harm as you as you can and to try and preserve innocent lives and you're [4:22] approaching this from a moral perspective this isn't a partisan thing this is an ideological for [4:26] you or geopolitical it's you're a moral leader so obviously someone in the service who grapples with [4:34] will seek guidance from you and and your brother chaplains how often do they come to you talking [4:40] about how to seek forgiveness perhaps for being part of this that is actually something we've [4:45] done a lot of work on as an archdiocese the whole question of moral injury so i mean even if you [4:50] obey a legitimate command but you have to kill someone um that's going to leave some some traces [4:57] uh in you know in your in your heart or on your soul and so there um we've [5:04] tried to provide uh structures and and help to uh to people in that situation to try and help them [5:11] heal from those from those situations and that's not a question of making a judgment it's just a [5:16] question of healing the individual who finds himself in that or herself in that in that [5:21] situation yeah you obviously and and your and your brother priests are on pentagon property [5:30] taking orders obviously through the military chain of command there's been a lot of [5:35] uh conversation in in recent weeks separate from uh the actual war itself regarding the rhetoric [5:43] of say the secretary of defense pete hegseth who openly invokes jesus repeatedly when talking about [5:51] the war with iran especially and has prayed openly from the pentagon press room for blessings upon [5:55] american service members obviously his right to pray in public and however he sees fit [6:00] but what do you make of of that sort of focus and and [6:05] sort of trying to cast this war as something that perhaps jesus would justify um it's it's a little [6:12] bit problematic in the sense that um the lord jesus certainly brought a a message of a message [6:21] of peace um and and also uh i think war is always a last resort um now you know they may have [6:32] information that that led them to think that that was the only choice they had i i'm not making a [6:36] judgment about that because i really don't know um but i do think that it's it's hard to uh to cast [6:44] this war um you know as as as something that would be sponsored by uh by the lord and that's [6:54] certainly something the pope has suggested himself right not not commenting on the secretary but [7:00] commenting on war generally that this idea that uh that you know if you're praying uh [7:07] the success of the war what is it he said recently he said god does not listen to the prayers of [7:11] those who wage war but rejects them i mean that would seem to put a lot of what's going on right [7:16] now in conflict it's certain it certainly would and i i turned back to uh just to uh paul vi who [7:24] made very few trips outside of of italy um but when he did come to the u.n he made that dramatic [7:31] appeal which which i saw live on television as a as a little kid um you know jamais plus [7:37] me plus never again war never again war and and yet that was in 1965 i think um now so many years [7:49] later we're still we're still in this situation so i i think uh i think i would be in i think pope [7:54] leo would definitely uh support saying that uh you know we have to find a situation where uh men and [8:02] women can sit down and and find avenues of peace in our remaining moments you obviously minister [8:08] primarily to catholics or you know people of color you know people of color you know people of color [8:10] service members uh but this is a holy season passover underway ramadan recently having ended [8:15] and ultimately on the battlefield it doesn't matter to your brother chaplains whether they're [8:19] catholic or protestant or jewish what's the interfaith dialogue like these days especially [8:25] at a time of war uh i think it's uh it's it's very healthy in the sense that there is a a genuine [8:32] desire to collaborate um i actually i know most of the rabbis in the services because we frequently [8:38] travel at the same the same time and time and time and time and time and time and time and time and [8:40] time and time and time and time and time and time for us christmas and easter for them passover [8:43] and hanukkah and uh they're fewer in numbers so i certainly get to to meet them but there is a [8:49] genuine spirit of uh of collaboration and there's a desire to facilitate the work of of chaplains [8:57] and i think that's a very it's a very healthy thing well thank you for being here on this [9:01] easter weekend and thank you obviously for your service not only to the country uh but to the [9:06] faith we appreciate you spending some time with us thank you thank you very much for the opportunity [9:10] and we'll be back [9:10] thank you very much for the opportunity and we'll be back in a moment