USCCB president urges President Trump to ‘step back from the precipice of war’
April 07, 2026
Stating that “the threat of destroying a whole civilization and the intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure cannot be morally justified,” the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops today called upon President Donald Trump to “step back from the precipice of war and negotiate a just settlement for the sake of peace and before more lives are lost.”
“After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples in Jerusalem, and his first words were ‘Peace be with you,’“ said Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City. “As the Holy Father, in his Urbi et Orbi message on Easter reflected, the peace that ‘Jesus gives us is not a peace that merely silences the weapons, but one that touches and transforms the heart of each of us! Let us make heard the cry for peace that springs from our hearts!’“
Archbishop Coakley added:
Pope Leo has invited everyone to join him in a prayer vigil for peace on Saturday, April 11. I make a special plea to my brother bishops, the priests, the laity, and all people yearning for true peace to join the Holy Father’s Vigil for Peace, whether virtually, or in parishes, chapels, or before the Lord present in the quiet of their hearts to join with our Holy Father as we pray for peace in our world.
Let us entrust to the Lord ‘all hearts that suffer and await the true peace that only he can give. Let us entrust ourselves to him and open our hearts to him! He is the only one who makes all things new (cf. Rev 21:5).’
Archbishop Coakley’s statement followed a social media post by President Donald Trump on Easter Sunday, in which the president wrote, “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!”
“Open the F------—Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell—JUST WATCH!”, the president added. “Praise be to Allah.”
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” President Trump wrote in a social media post today. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?”
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