Pope Leo XIV waves to the gang from the popemobile after the Easter Mass as a part of the Holy Week celebrations, at St Peter’s sq. within the Vatican on April 5, 2026.
Alberto Pizzoli | Afp | Getty Pictures
President Donald Trump on Sunday bashed Pope Leo XIV over the U.S.-born Roman Catholic pontiff’s criticism of the U.S. struggle in Iran.
The president mentioned he doesn’t “desire a Pope who criticizes the President of america as a result of I’m doing precisely what I used to be elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do,” in a Reality Social publish.
Trump linked the pope’s ascension to his return to workplace as president.
“Leo needs to be grateful as a result of, as everybody is aware of, he was a surprising shock,” Trump mentioned. “He wasn’t on any checklist to be Pope, and was solely put there by the Church as a result of he was an American, they usually thought that may be the easiest way to take care of President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t within the White Home, Leo would not be within the Vatican.”
Trump mentioned Leo is “Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, doesn’t sit effectively with me, nor does the truth that he meets with Obama Sympathizers like David Axelrod, a LOSER from the Left, who’s a type of who wished churchgoers and clerics to be arrested,” referring to a current assembly between the pope and President Barack Obama’s former political aide.
Leo, the primary U.S.-born pope who hails from Chicago, has condemned Trump’s struggle effort with Iran.
“Sufficient with the idolatry of self and cash! Sufficient with the show of power! Sufficient with struggle! True energy is manifested in serving life,” Leo mentioned on Saturday, in line with CBS Information.
The pontiff additionally mentioned it was “really unacceptable” for Trump to make a current risk that he would destroy “a whole civilization” in Iran.
Leo additionally used his Easter message to name for peace.
“Let those that have weapons lay them down! Let those that have the facility to unleash wars select peace! Not a peace imposed by power, however by dialogue! Not with the will to dominate others, however to come across them!” he mentioned.
Leo and different church leaders have additionally at instances been sharply crucial of Trump’s home immigration insurance policies.
The pontiff endorsed a November message from the United States Convention of Catholic Bishops who mentioned they’re “disturbed once we see amongst our individuals a local weather of concern and anxiousness round questions of profiling and immigration enforcement.”
“We bishops advocate for a significant reform of our nation’s immigration legal guidelines and procedures,” the bishops wrote. “Human dignity and nationwide safety are usually not in battle. Each are doable if individuals of fine will work collectively.”
