The Pope says he has “no fear” of the Trump administration and would continue to speak out against the war in Iran despite criticism from the US president.
In his first response to Trump, who called the head of the Catholic church “weak” and “terrible”, Pope Leo said he would not stay silent.
“I don’t think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing. I will continue to speak out loudly against war,” he said after the US president posted an AI picture of himself as Jesus Christ.
Trump appears dressed in red and white robes as he cures a man with his healing hand. The American flag is shown over his shoulder. The image was shared on the president’s Truth Social site.
The Pope added: “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.
“The message of the church, my message, the message of the Gospel: Blessed are the Peacemakers. I do not look at my role as being political, a politician.”
The pontiff, 70, originally from Chicago, has emerged as an outspoken critic of the US and Israeli attacks on Iran and decried the “madness of war” in an appeal for peace on Saturday.
Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, offered support to Leo. “May the Holy Father’s Ministry help to resolve conflicts and restore peace, both within nations and between them, following in the footsteps of his predecessors,” she said.
The presidency of the Italian Episcopal Conference, the permanent assembly of the Catholic bishops in Italy, expressed “regret at the remarks directed at [Leo] in recent hours” by Trump. It reminded that “the Pope is not a political counterpart, but the successor of Peter, called to serve the Gospel, truth and peace”.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, 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 also accused the pontiff of “toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon.”
Trump later doubled down on his comments with a post on Truth Social, saying: “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” he said.
He also claimed that the only reason the Vatican had elected an American pontiff was because Trump was in the White House “and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump”.
“If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
Leo became pontiff four months after Trump began his second spell as president.
On Saturday the Pope told worshippers at St Peter’s Basilica: “Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!”
Last week he criticised Trump over his threats against Iran when he threatened that “a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again”. The Pope called it a “truly unacceptable” statement.
On Friday, a Vatican official denied reports that a top Pentagon official gave the church’s envoy to the United States a “bitter lecture” over the Pope’s criticisms of the Trump administration. It was also reported last week that the Pope would not return home while Trump remained in the White House.
The badly tempered meeting is believed to have taken place in January but the story emerged only last week.
In a speech that month, the Pope said diplomacy and dialogue was “being replaced by diplomacy based on force”, widely interpreted as an attack on Trump’s argument for American dominance in the western hemisphere.
Austen Ivereigh, a senior Vatican commentator, said that a papal diplomat being summoned to the Pentagon was “unprecedented”.
The Holy See confirmed that Cardinal Christophe Pierre met Elbridge Colby, the US under secretary of defence for policy, “as part of his regular duties as papal representative”, but dismissed unspecified aspects of the reports.
“The meeting provided an opportunity for an exchange of views on matters of mutual interest,” the Vatican said. “The account given by certain media outlets of that meeting bears no resemblance to the truth.”
The Pentagon also pushed back, portraying the discussion as “respectful and reasonable” while dismissing “grossly false and distorted recent reporting”.
Massimo Faggioli, an expert on the papacy, told Reuters that Trump’s comments went beyond criticisms of the pontiff made by leaders of Germany and Italy during the Second World War to try to draw the late Pope Pius XII to support their causes.
“Not even Hitler or Mussolini attacked the Pope so directly and publicly,” Faggioli said.
Paul Coakley, Archbishop of Oklahoma City and president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was disheartened by Trump’s comments.
“Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls,” he said in a statement.