Pope Leo XIV said Saturday he has no interest in debating President Donald Trump over the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, calling the characterization of his peace message as a direct rebuke inaccurate.
The pope spoke to reporters aboard the papal plane flying from Cameroon to Angola during his 11-day Africa tour, addressing a week-long exchange that began when Trump criticized Leo’s preaching on peace as weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy.
Leo insisted his remarks were prepared weeks before Trump’s comments and reflect a broader Gospel call for peace, not a targeted response to the U.S. President or the Iran conflict.
He said the narrative of a personal dispute grew from Trump’s initial remarks on the first day of the African trip, which he called politically motivated and detached from his actual message.
Trump had accused Leo of being weak on crime, suggested the pope owed his election to him, and falsely claimed Leo said Iran could have a nuclear weapon — a statement the pope has repeatedly rejected, calling nuclear weapons “profound horrors.”
The pope noted there is no evidence Iran has had an active nuclear weapons program since 2003, citing U.S. Intelligence assessments and Iran’s own claims of peaceful uranium enrichment under the non-proliferation treaty.
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Leo has consistently denounced religious justification for war, calling Trump’s threat to annihilate Iranian civilization “truly unacceptable,” while the Vatican stressed his peace message applies to all global conflicts, including Ukraine, where the Russian Orthodox Church has called the invasion a holy war.
The dispute drew in Vice President JD Vance, who told a Turning Point USA event in Georgia that the pope should be careful when speaking on theology, suggesting Leo’s remarks lacked truth and implying he was not a good Catholic.
Vance, a Catholic convert since 2019, framed his critique around the need for theological statements to be anchored in truth, a stance critics note ignores the Catholic doctrine of papal infallibility on faith and morals when speaking ex cathedra.
Leo responded that he has no fear of the Trump administration and will continue promoting peace rooted in the Gospel, emphasizing his Africa trip’s primary goal is to minister to Catholics across the continent.
Why did Trump criticize the pope’s peace message?
Trump criticized Leo’s peace advocacy as weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy, framing it as a rebuke of the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran that killed civilians, including children.
What is the pope’s actual position on nuclear weapons and Iran’s nuclear program?
Leo has called nuclear weapons “profound horrors” and stated there is no evidence Iran has had an active nuclear weapons program since 2003, aligning with U.S. Intelligence assessments and Iran’s claims of peaceful enrichment.
