'Strong. Beautiful. Clear': Maria Shriver praises Pope Leo's message for peace

Amid a public spat with the White House over the legitimacy of war, Pope Leo XIV used a speech Thursday in Cameroon to spread the message of peace. The American pontiff praised the leaders who work toward peace and called out the "tyrants" who are ravaging the world. His words struck a chord with Writer and former First Lady of California, Maria Shriver, who took to social media to praise the Pope's message. The comments come at a time when President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have come under fire for using religion to justify their military operation in the Middle East.

The Pope delivered his speech in a region of Cameroon where separatists have been clashing with the government, during his 11-day tour of Africa. He praised the local leaders, saying, “Blessed are the peacemakers," adding, "The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters," according to the New York Times. Shriver, who's married to former California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, shared the Pope's message on X, praising them as "Strong. Beautiful. Clear." She added that the calmly delivered words rise above the noise. 

Pope Leo's comments come at a time when ​Hegseth and Trump have repeatedly turned to religious rhetoric to discuss the war, and both of them referred to the rescue of a downed U.S. airman in Iran as an "Easter Miracle." Although the Pope has not referred specifically to Trump or his administration, his words seemingly extend beyond Cameroon. In a post on X, he sharpened his criticism of war rhetoric and blasted the "handful of tyrants" who are ravaging Earth. In his speech, the Pope also criticized the military spending across the world, saying, "The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild."

Most recently, Hegseth drew flak for reciting a fake bible verse from Quentin Tarantino's film "Pulp Fiction," claiming it was recited as a prayer before the daring Sandy 1 rescue of the downed pilot. Despite the criticism, Hegseth continued to use religion in defense of the war and the president on Thursday, citing a biblical scripture to attack the media who questioned the legitimacy of the war and Trump's actions. Hegseth compared the reporters to the Jewish adversaries of Jesus Christ, plotting "how ‌to destroy him." At a Pentagon briefing on the Iran war, ⁠he cited how Pharisees sought to undermine Jesus even after watching him perform a miracle. "I sat there in church, and I thought, our press ​are just like these Pharisees," Hegseth said, as per Reuters. He added that it wasn't for everyone, but the ones who question Trump: "The Pharisees scrutinized every good act in order to find a violation. Only looking for the negative. The hardened hearts of our press are calibrated only to impugn."