Archbishop Paul Coakley on April 7 condemned a threat from President Donald Trump that promised the annihilation of the “whole civilization” of Iran if the country fails to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by the end of the day.
“The threat of destroying a whole civilization and the intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure cannot be morally justified,” Coakley, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in an April 7 statement. “I call on President 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.”
The prelate’s statement comes in response to a post from Trump on social media earlier on April 7 in which the president claimed that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iranian leadership fails to strike a deal on Hormuz by the 8 p.m. ET cutoff.
“I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump said. “We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the world.”
Trump’s latest threat follows a strongly worded post from the president on Easter Sunday in which he stated that April 7 will be “Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” an apparent intimation that the U.S. would strike at critical Iranian infrastructure if the strait was not reopened.
In his response to the posts, which did not quote Trump directly, Coakley noted that “after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples in Jerusalem, and his first words were ‘Peace be with you.’”
The archbishop cited Pope Leo XIV’s calls for peace and invited the faithful to join the Holy Father in his prayer vigil for peace on 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,” Coakley said.
