“The things I say are not meant as attacks on anyone,” Pope Leo XIV said Monday as he flew to Algiers for a four-day African tour. “I am not a politician. I am inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation of looking for ways to avoid war any time that’s possible.”
Asked about criticism from US President Donald Trump over the US‑Israel war with Iran, Leo said he was “not afraid of the Trump administration.”
What happened between the Pope and Trump?
President Trump, members of his administration, and many supporters have invoked Christianity to justify strikes on Iran. At Palm Sunday Mass on March 29, Leo—without naming names—said in his sermon: “This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war…(Jesus) 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.'”
This past Saturday the pope more directly referenced the US‑Israel led war in Iran, condemning its “horror and inhumanity” and urging leaders to pursue diplomacy. “Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!” he said.
Trump responded on his Truth Social platform, calling Leo “terrible” at foreign policy, suggesting the pontiff was elected to handle Trump, saying the pope was “not doing a very good job” and labeling him “a very liberal person,” while urging him to “stop catering to the Radical Left.”
Leo appeared unruffled on the plane to Algeria, telling reporters he “will not shy away from announcing the message of the gospel.” He reiterated the gospel’s call to peace: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
Edited by: Louis Oelofse