Hegseth Prays for 'Overwhelming Violence of Action' at a Pentagon Worship Service

At the monthly Christian worship service he hosts inside the Pentagon on March 25, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth prayed that every round find its mark and for overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy. Hegseth said the prayer had been given to him by a military chaplain attached to the troops who captured Nicolas Maduro, then president of Venezuela, in the January 2026 U.S. operation. Four days later, in a Palm Sunday address in St. Peter's Square, Pope Leo XIV called the conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States atrocious and said Jesus cannot be used to justify war; commentators read the remarks as a response to Hegseth.

A cabinet secretary convening religious services at department headquarters, and praying for the denial of mercy to enemy combatants, raises questions under the military's own rules on religious neutrality in the chain of command and under the law of armed conflict's requirement to accept surrender.

Hegseth has continued the services. The Pentagon did not retract the remarks.