Newsletters
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recited a passage widely recognized as the fictional "Bible verse" from Quentin Tarantino's film "Pulp Fiction" during a Pentagon worship service, presenting it as a combat search-and-rescue prayer tied to Ezekiel 25:17.
The move drew criticism from chaplains, Democratic members of Congress, the Archbishop of Munich, and, implicitly, Pope Leo XIV, as nine House Democrats filed six articles of impeachment against Hegseth on the same morning.
Hegseth told those gathered at the worship service he had received the prayer from the lead mission planner of "Sandy 1," the unit that recently rescued downed Air Force crew members in Iran.
He said the prayer was titled "CSAR 25:17," Combat Search and Rescue, alluding to Ezekiel 25:17, and then read aloud, "The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men."
Blessed is he who, in the name of camaraderie and duty, shepherds the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother. And you will know my call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee, and amen."
The passage closely mirrors Samuel L. Jackson's character's monologue in Pulp Fiction, which begins, "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men..." and is attributed in the film to Ezekiel 25:17, though the film's version is itself largely fictional, written by Tarantino and Roger Avary.
The actual King James Version of Ezekiel 25:17 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."
Hegseth's version replaces all references to God and the Lord with military unit identity and battlefield language.
Hegseth did not mention the "Pulp Fiction" origin of the text.
The worship service featured a sermon by Zack Randles, founding pastor of Waterfront Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Washington, the sixth Southern Baptist pastor to preach at the monthly services in the past year.
The service opened with a greeting "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ," included the Lord's Prayer and "Amazing Grace," and closed with a prayer for national leaders to hear "the message from your word today."
Hegseth had introduced the service by saying, "Fifteen minutes ago I was talking about blockades with Admiral Cooper, and now we're going to study the Lord's word. And may what we talk about and how we worship today inform the remainder of our day and how we conduct ourselves, no matter what we're doing."
Four days after last month's similar service, Pope Leo XIV appeared to issue an indirect rebuke in a Palm Sunday address: "Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war and whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying, "Your hands are full of blood."
Archbishop Reinhard Marx of Munich criticized Hegseth's previous service in his Easter sermon as "shameless blasphemy," also condemning war-sanctifying religious language from the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Military chaplains had previously expressed concern through retired Army Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, who said chaplains reported being sidelined if they did not align with Hegseth's approach.
A Defense Department official cited by Latin Times described the internal climate as "terrifying."
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
2 min read
1 min read
