Pope Leo XIV says he has “no fear of the Trump administration” as he appears to be increasingly at odds with President Donald Trump over the war with Iran.
Trump criticized the first American pope on Sunday night, saying he’s not “doing a very good job” and that “he’s a very liberal person.” Trump also accused Pope Leo of “catering to the radical left.”
Iran war criticism
Trump’s comments come after the pope last week criticized Trump’s public threats to “wipe out” an entire civilization in Iran. The pontiff urged people to contact their Congress members and object.
Leo has been critical of the war in Iran since it began and over the weekend, he reiterated his calls for peace at a special prayer vigil at St. Peter’s Basilica, saying the “madness” needs to end.
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Trump fired back in a lengthy social media post. He then doubled down when reporters asked about it.
“We don’t like a pope that’s going to say that it’s okay to have a nuclear weapon, we don’t want a pope that says crime is okay in our cities. I don’t like it,” Trump said. “I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime. He is a man that doesn’t think that we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon so they can blow up the world. I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”
In his post, Trump also alleged that Leo was only chosen as Pope “because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”
Pope Leo reponds
Pope Leo responded on Monday, telling reporters on the papal plane on his way to Africa for an 11-day tour that he has “no fear of the Trump administration.”
“I don’t want to get into a debate with him. I don’t think that the message of the gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing,” he said. “And I will continue to speak out loud against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue, multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems. Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say: there’s a better way to do this.”
Pope Leo stressed that he is not attacking Trump or anyone else with his appeals for peace and criticisms of the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fueling conlict worldwide.
“The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers,’” Leo said.
