Pope Leo XIV has said it was “not in my interest at all” to debate US President Donald Trump over the Iran war, but that he would continue preaching the Gospel message of peace. The pontiff spoke to reporters on board the papal plane flying from Cameroon to Angola as part of his 11-day tour of Africa.
He addressed the week-long back-and-forth between himself and Trump, who had criticised the pope’s peace message on social media. Leo insisted his preaching was not directed at the US leader, but reflected the broader Gospel message. “There’s been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects,” he said, according to the official Vatican news agency.
Trump launched his criticisms on 12 April, accusing Leo of being “weak on crime” and claiming the pope owed his election to the president. Later, Trump falsely stated that the pope had said Iran could have a nuclear weapon. In fact, the pope has spoken out against “the profound horrors wrought by nuclear weapons”. US intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard testified last year that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.
Leo has consistently called for peace and dialogue, denouncing the use of religious justification for war. He described Trump’s threat to annihilate Iranian civilisation as “truly unacceptable”. The Vatican has stressed that the pope’s peace messages refer to all wars, not just the Iran conflict.
Trump’s attacks have divided his Christian followers. Fox News host Sean Hannity even declared he no longer considered himself a Catholic, citing “institutionalised corruption” and scandals “all the way to Rome”. Leo, speaking on Saturday, referred to his earlier remarks in Bamenda, Cameroon, where a separatist conflict has raged for nearly a decade. He noted that his condemnation of a “handful of tyrants” was written two weeks before Trump’s comments, but was viewed as a debate. “Which is not in my interest at all,” he said.
