Amid the ongoing row between the United States President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, the latter on Wednesday maintained his stance of peace and dialogue as the West Asia conflict continues.
Leo, who was headed to Cameroon as part of his Africa visit, did not mention Trump and US Vice President JD Vance’s remarks on him, and took no questions.
Speaking to journalists onboard the papal plane, the Pope spoke about his recently concluded Algeria visit and the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo, the inspiration of his religious order, the Associated Press reported.
However, while the Pope chose to not directly address the matter, Trump and Vance have been vocal regarding their criticism of Leo.
The US President has accused the first American-born Pope of being “weak” on crime and foreign policy, while Vance said Leo should be “careful” when speaking about theology.
However, even before papacy, the future pope, then-Cardinal Robert Prevost, had shared news analyses which criticised US Vice President Vance , a converted Catholic, for justifying harsh immigration policy. Following Prevost’s election, Trump had congratulated the Pope, and also took credit for it.
“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,” the US President had said then in a post.
How did the row begin and unfold?
Trump had, around Easter, escalated threats to Iran. Following this, the Pope in his Palm Sunday message stated that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.”
The disagreement escalated as the pope declared the US President’s threats of eliminating the “whole civilisation” of Iran as “truly unacceptable.” “I’m not afraid of the Trump administration…or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for.,” Leo said Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Following this, Trump posted on Sunday calling Leo “weak”. “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,” he said in a post on Truth Social. He further said that Leo should focus on “being a Great Pope, not a Politician.”
Meanwhile, Pope Leo said his message was rooted in the Gospel, and said he does not fear the Trump administration. “To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,” Leo told AP. ““And I’m sorry to hear that, but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today,” he added.
Trump, on the other hand, refused to apologise to Leo, and tried to explain a now-deleted social media post which seemed to depict him as Jesus. Trump later said he believed the image showed him as a doctor. He then posted an AI-generated image of Jesus embracing him on Wednesday.
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