Pope Leo XIV dismissed President Donald Trump’s scathing rebuke of the Vatican’s stances on the Iran war on Monday morning, telling reporters he has been spreading the word of the gospel.
“I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the Church is here to do,” the pope said.
Leo made the comments as a response to Trump’s Truth Social post on Sunday in which Trump called the pope “terrible for Foreign Policy” and “weak on Nuclear Weapons.” The pope has been critical of Operation Epic Fury and the violence in the Middle East since the first joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran in late February.
The Vatican leader had called Trump’s previous threat to Iranian civilization “truly unacceptable” and blasted the United States as a country helping fuel a “demonic cycle of evil” through the Iran war in his Saturday evening homily over the weekend. Throughout his first year as pope, Leo has taken a hard-line stance on advocating peace over war, also urging a deal between Russia and Ukraine.
But Trump bashed the pontiff and his Iran stance on Sunday, writing on Truth Social, “Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician.”
“I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t! I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote.
“And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History,” he continued.
As he boarded a plane for an Apostolic Journey to Algeria, the pontiff responded to Trump’s criticism, saying, “I am not a politician, and I do not want to enter into a debate with him.”
THE ERA OF AMATEUR VATICANOLOGY DAWNS IN THE UNITED STATES
“I do not think the message of the Gospel should be abused as some are doing. I continue to speak strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, dialogue, and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems. Too many people are suffering today, too many innocent lives have been lost, and I believe someone must stand up and say there is a better way,” the pope said on Monday.
Leo is the first American to be elected as pope after he was selected to lead the Catholic Church during the first couple of months of Trump’s second term as president. The pope will celebrate his one-year mark at the helm of the Roman Catholic Church in May.