As the Trump administration and Pope Leo XIV publicly sparred over the Iran war, social media users claimed that both the pontiff and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cited fictional Bible verses to promote their messages.
Leo has spoken against the Iran war and called for peace. Hegseth has justified the war by citing scripture and saying God is on his side.
On April 15, Hegseth led a Pentagon prayer service, prompting some social media users to say a prayer he read aloud sounded identical to dialogue from the 1994 movie “Pulp Fiction.”
Meanwhile, critics of the pope said an April 16 speech he gave in Cameroon cited a nonexistent Bible passage.
Hegseth didn’t explicitly say he was quoting the Bible; he said he was saying a prayer that reflects a Bible verse. Leo spoke about Jesus’ message, at times citing verses verbatim, but at other times paraphrasing or sharing his own meditations.
Here’s the full context of what Hegseth and Leo said.
Hegseth’s Pentagon service prayer
Social media users claimed Hegseth used a “fake bible verse” used in the film “Pulp Fiction.”
An April 16 Facebook post from “The Other 98%”, a liberal organization that says it posts memes to “challenge” corporations and billionaires, said Hegseth “used the fake Bible verse from Pulp Fiction.”
On X, another account shared a video of Hegseth side-by-side with a clip from Pulp Fiction, with the caption: “The US Secretary of War took to the Pentagon stage to invite his audience to join him in praying using fake bible verses from Pulp Fiction.”
At the Pentagon service, Hegseth read a prayer he said was recited among the rescue mission for a U.S. fighter jet pilot who went down in Iran. “They call it CSAR 25:17, which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17,” Hegseth said. CSAR stands for combat search and rescue, and Ezekiel 25:17 is a Bible verse.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote April 16 on X that Hegseth shared a prayer inspired by the “Pulp Fiction” dialogue, and said that the prayer and dialogue “were reflections of the verse Ezekiel 25:17.” The Defense Department declined further comment when contacted by PolitiFact.
In the film “Pulp Fiction,” Samuel L. Jackson’s character “Jules” tells another character he has a Bible passage memorized, naming Ezekiel 25:17. Here’s how Jules’ passage (left) compares with the prayer Hegseth recited (right). The differences in their quotes are highlighted in blue.
The last two lines in the “Pulp Fiction” dialogue have some similarity to Ezekiel 25:17, which reads:
“And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.”
Leo’s speech in Cameroon
An X post shows a video of the pope speaking April 16 in Bamenda, Cameroon, and below there’s a screenshot of the Bible verse Matthew 5:9.
The post caption cited one part of the speech and said only the first line matched the Bible verse: “Jesus told us, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, but woe to those who manipulate religion in the very name of God for their own military, economic, or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.’”
Leo in some instances cited passages verbatim and at other times used his own words or paraphrased.
PolitiFact watched the speech and reviewed the official transcript from the Holy See website, the diplomatic representative of the Roman Catholic Church and the pope. The transcript said part of Leo’s speech related to the Bible verse Matthew 5:3-14.
Leo said in his speech:
“I wish this would happen in so many other places of the world. Your witness, your work for peace can be a model for the whole world! Jesus told us: Blessed are the peacemakers! But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth. Yes, my dear sisters and brothers, you who hunger and thirst for justice, who are poor, merciful, meek, and pure of heart, you who have wept — you are the light of the world!”
Matthew 5:3-14 says, in part:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled… Blessed are the peacemakers… You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.”
RELATED: No, Pope Leo XIV does not support nuclear weapons in Iran, or anywhere, despite Trump’s statement
