Cardinal Blase Cupich condemns White House videos on Iran war conflict

'Peace should be the first option': Cupich said Pope Leo XIV shares his thoughts about war

Sarah Schulte  Image
Monday, March 9, 2026
Cardinal Blase Cupich condemns White House videos on Iran war

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, has weighed in several times before on Trump administration policies and actions.

He is again speaking out on the war with Iran and White House videos.

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One of several videos released by the White House's X account includes a line lifted from video game "Mortal Kombat." Another uses the "Wasted" graphic from "Grand Theft Auto."

The posts are meant to be hype videos about the war in Iran that combine video games, movie clips and real combat pictures.

"The video presentation that the White House posted was deeply offensive, especially not only to the people who were killed in the war so far, but especially to our American troops," Cupich said.

Cupich is calling on the White House to take the videos down. Cupich says they never should have been released in the first place.

"The object, with regard to a video game, is a hit. But in the case that we have here, it's not just a hit. It's a grieving family that has lost children, as we have seen in the bombing of that school," Cupich said.

It's being reported it was likely an American Tomahawk that hit an area near a school, where close to 170 children were killed. Thousands of lives have been lost in a war that is now 10 days old, including those of seven U.S. service members.

Despite this, the White House is determined to press forward.

"We're winning war by a lot. We've decimated their whole evil empire; we'll continue for a end," President Donald Trump said.

With more lives likely to be lost as the war rages on, Cardinal Cupich is concerned about what he says is a lack of strategy.

"If war is the first option, then there is no way in which it's going to end. Peace should be the first option. Diplomacy should be the first option," Cupich said.

While Cardinal Cupich keeps his conversations with the Pope Leo XIV private, he says the pope shares his thoughts about the war. The pope has released public statements concerned about the humanitarian cost of war.

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