En route to Algiers on Monday for a four-day African tour, Pope Leo XIV said his remarks are not intended as personal attacks and stressed his role is spiritual, not political. He told reporters that ‘the things I say are not meant as attacks on anyone’ and that ‘I am not a politician.’ Instead, he said, he invites people to seek ‘ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation’ and to avoid war whenever possible.
Asked about criticism from US President Donald Trump over the US‑Israel conflict with Iran, the pope said he was ‘not afraid of the Trump administration.’
The exchange follows a series of statements by Leo questioning the morality of war. At his Palm Sunday homily on March 29, he spoke—without naming leaders—of Jesus as the ‘King of Peace’ who rejects war and warned that God will not listen to the prayers of those ‘whose hands are full of blood.’ This past Saturday, the pope more directly decried what he called the ‘horror and inhumanity’ of the conflict and urged leaders to pursue diplomacy. ‘Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!’ he said.
President Trump responded on his Truth Social platform, criticizing Leo’s approach to foreign policy, calling the pope ‘terrible’ and ‘not doing a very good job,’ labeling him ‘a very liberal person,’ and urging him to ‘stop catering to the Radical Left.’
Leo appeared unruffled on the plane to Algeria, saying he ‘will not shy away from announcing the message of the gospel’ and reiterating the faith’s call to peace: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’
Edited by: Louis Oelofse