Responding to US President Donald Trump’s criticism over his Iran comments, Pope Leo XIV on Monday defended his earlier remarks, saying he wants to promote peace.
Speaking to reporters, the Pontiff said that he has “no intention to debate” the US President as he is “not a politician”
“The message is the same: to promote peace,” he reiterated.
What Trump said about Pope Leo?
Earlier on Sunday, Trump had severely criticized Pope Leo for his remarks on the Iran war. In a lengthy social media note, Trump had called Pope Leo “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
“He talks about “fear” of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart,” Trump lamented.
The US President further stated that he liked Pope Leo’s brother Louis more. “I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!”
He further added that he doesn’t want a Pope “who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country. 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.”
The US President continued, “Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise. He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”
He went on, “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican. Unfortunately, Leo’s Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me, nor does the fact that he meets with Obama Sympathizers like David Axelrod, a LOSER from the Left, who is one of those who wanted churchgoers and clerics to be arrested. 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. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!”
Why Trump criticized Pope Leo?
Earlier on Saturday – as Iran and the US held failed peace talks in Islamabad — Pope Leo called for an end to “the madness of war”.
He also denounced the use of Christian language by Trump and his administration to justify war.
Pope Leo had also criticized Trump over his threat that the whole Iranian civilisation will be killed if Tehran doesn’t agree to a deal to end the war.
“There are certainly questions of international law, but much more than that, it is a moral question,” Pope Leo had said.
What Iran said on Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo
Esmaeil Baghaei, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, also reacted to Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo.
“In an era when the thunder of bombs and the clamour of warlords and aggressors weigh heavily on the world’s conscience, the words of Pope Leo XIV echo the profound call of the Gospel: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers,” he wrote on X.
“Insulting Pope Leo XIV is not only ‘unchristian’; it is a blatant assault on responsible advocacy for peace, justice and humanity,” he added.