Trump Calls Pope Leo 'Terrible' Church Leader Says Will Continue Talking About War

2026-04-13 02:18:47

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) [Editor's Note: Follow Khaleej Times live blog for the latest regional developments with the US-Israel-Iran ceasefire now in effect.]

US President Donald Trump forcefully criticised Pope Leo late on Sunday in an unusual, direct attack on the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church that drew immediate rebuke from believers.

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The US President, in an apparent response to the pope's growing criticisms of the US-Israeli war on Iran and the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policies, said Leo was "terrible".

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

Pope Leo told Reuters on Monday that he plans to continue speaking out against war. 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," Leo told Reuters. "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. "Too many people are suffering in the world today," said Leo. "Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there's a better way."

Catholics on social media quickly lambasted Trump for attacking the leader of their Church, who they believe is the successor of St. Peter, one of Jesus' 12 apostles.

"There is no ambiguity about the situation now," Massimo Faggioli, an expert on the papacy, told Reuters.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was disheartened by Trump's comments.

"Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls,” he said in a statement.

Pope Leo vocal on war, immigration issues

Leo, originally from Chicago, is the first US pope Known for choosing his words carefully, he has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war in recent weeks and decried the "madness of war" on in a peace appeal on Saturday.

Last year, he questioned whether the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policies were in line with the Church's pro-life teachings.

Trump wrote in his post Sunday that "Leo should get his act together as Pope", later telling reporters he was "not a big fan" of the pontiff. Trump's broadside against Leo also accused him of being "weak on nuclear weapons," several days after the pope said the US President's threat to destroy Iranian civilisation was "truly unacceptable."

In a speech on Palm Sunday last month in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, the pope said God rejects the prayers of leaders who start wars and have their "hands full of blood," calling the conflict in Iran "atrocious."

Leo has also called on Trump to find an "off-ramp" to end the conflict and "decrease the amount of violence."

In his post, Trump suggested that Leo was only elected to lead the Catholic Church last year "because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump." The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The pope's call for a more compassionate approach to immigration - a sentiment expressed by several of Leo's predecessors - stands in contrast to the stance of Trump, who has argued that the US must curtail immigration from developing countries to reduce crime.

"He's a very liberal person and he's a man who doesn't believe in stopping crime," Trump told reporters on Sunday night.

Trump also had a rocky relationship with Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis, who criticised Trump's immigration policy proposals when he first ran for president and suggested Trump was "not a Christian."

Trump had called Francis "disgraceful" in early 2016.