Pope Leo pushes back after Trump criticism

Pope Leo said on Monday (Apr 13) that he plans to continue speaking out against war after US President Donald Trump’s direct attack on the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Church, adding that he does not fear the Trump administration.

In comments aboard the papal flight to Algiers, where the first US pope is starting a 10-day tour to four African countries, the pontiff also said the Christian message was being “abused”.

“I don’t want to get into a debate with him,” Pope Leo told Reuters as he greeted journalists on the plane. “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, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems,” he said, speaking in English.

Pope Leo also stressed that he was not making a direct attack against Trump or anyone else with his general appeal for peace and criticisms of the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fueling the Iran wars and other conflicts around the world.
“Too many people are suffering in the world today,” said Pope Leo. “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,” he said.

He also told journalists: “I have no fear of the Trump administration.”

Pope Leo, originally from Chicago, has emerged as an outspoken critic of the US-Israeli war on Iran in recent weeks and decried the “madness of war” in a peace appeal on Saturday.

Trump, in an apparent response to the pope’s criticisms of both the conflict and the White House’s hard-line immigration policies, said late on Sunday that Pope Leo was “terrible”.

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

-- Agencies