(LifeSiteNews) — Carrie Prejean Boller has thanked Pope Leo XIV for “speaking out against grave injustice and violence” in the Middle East following her appeals to Catholic bishops in America to raise their voice for this same cause and to defend the civil right of religious liberty for Catholics in America.
“I continue to follow the situation in the Middle East with dismay,” lamented the Holy Father during the Sunday Angelus yesterday. “Like other regions of the world, it is torn apart by war and violence.”
“We cannot remain silent in the face of the suffering of so many defenseless victims of these conflicts,” the first American pope said. “What wounds them wounds all of humanity.”
“The death and pain caused by these wars is a scandal for the entire human family and a cry that rises to God!” emphasized Pope Leo.
At the Sunday Angelus, Pope Leo XIV called for a ceasefire in the Middle East: “We cannot remain silent in the face of the suffering of so many people, the victims of these conflicts. What hurts them, hurts all of humanity.” pic.twitter.com/W5Pbm9o6kK
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) March 22, 2026
“I strongly renew my appeal to persevere in prayer. May hostilities cease and may paths to #Peace finally open up, based on sincere dialogue and respect for the dignity of every human person,” the new pope posted on X as well, ending with, “#PrayTogether.”
Boller, who received the Catholic Champion Award last Thursday at the Catholics for Catholics’ “Catholic Prayer for America” gala in Washington, D.C., retweeted the pope’s statement thanking him for his “faithful and courageous witness in speaking out against grave injustice and violence.”
“In a world so often marked by confusion and moral silence, your voice reflects the clarity of the Gospel and the perennial teaching of the Church,” emphasized Boller appearing to suggest a contrast between the pope’s witness and the silence of Catholic bishops in the United States regarding these grave moral and related theological issues, which remain a driving force behind the necessary involvement of the U.S. government in these conflicts.
“As the Successor of Peter, you remind the faithful of our solemn duty to uphold the dignity of every human person, created in the image and likeness of God, and to stand firmly for truth, even when it is costly,” wrote the recent Catholic convert from Evangelical Protestantism.
Thank you, @Pontifex, for your faithful and courageous witness in speaking out against grave injustice and violence. In a world so often marked by confusion and moral silence, your voice reflects the clarity of the Gospel and the perennial teaching of the Church.
As the… https://t.co/JsNdM3FcfF
— Carrie Prejean Boller (@CarriePrejean1) March 22, 2026
“Your words echo the call of Christ Himself, who commands us not to remain silent in the face of evil, but to be light in the darkness,” the wife and mother of two said. “May your leadership continue to strengthen the Church, awaken consciences, and draw all people closer to the justice, mercy, and peace that flow from the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ,” she concluded.
Boller’s post comes in the wake of a sharp public exchange between her and fellow Commission member, Bishop Robert Barron, over the reasons behind her removal from the Religious Liberty Commission following its February meeting. At that time, she challenged the notion that “anti-Zionism is antisemitism” while defending the right of Americans to protest what many judge to be Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people without being branded “antisemitic.”
She also accurately articulated Catholic doctrine regarding the present modern state of Israel as having no theological, biblical or prophetical relevance.
READ: Carrie Prejean Boller stands firm as Bishop Barron accuses her of ‘hijacking’ hearing
Following her public challenge to the very well-known Bishop Barron to defend the rights of Catholics to maintain authentic doctrine, the latter responded charging that Boller falsely portrayed herself as a victim of anti-Catholic prejudice and that her assertion of her religious liberty being denied was “simply preposterous.”
Instead, he argued, she was dismissed “for her behavior at a gathering of the Commission last month: browbeating witnesses, aggressively asserting her point of view, hijacking the meeting for her own political purposes.”
In response to Barron’s statement, Boller alleged she had originally been asked to resign from the Commission last August, casting doubt on Barron’s notion that she was only forced out over her “behavior” at February’s hearing.
“I was asked to resign in August for the same reasons I was removed in February. You knew about this because you called me immediately after I sent you this email, and you were in shock. Do you really want to stick with this story, Your Excellency?” she asked the bishop who founded Word on Fire Catholic Ministries in 2000 while serving as a priest in Chicago.
According to the assessment of many, she was ironically terminated from this Commission for exercising her religious liberty.
RELATED:
Carrie Prejean Boller calls out leaked USCCB memo ‘on Jews’ as misrepresenting her testimony
Catholic woman ousted from Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission after denouncing Zionism
Catholic ousted from Religious Liberty Commission speaks out on death threats
Catholic hero REMOVED from Trump’s commission for denouncing Zionism