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US President Donald Trump has criticised Pope Leo as \u201cterrible\u201d in a rare direct attack on the pontiff, who responded that he had \u201cno fear\u201d of the White House administration and would continue to denounce the horrors of war.<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s comments came after the pope had spoken out, with growing force, against the US-Israeli war on Iran and the Trump administration\u2019s immigration policies<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,\u201d Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social late on Sunday.<\/p>\n Trump later posted<\/a> an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus, with the US flag and the Statue of Liberty in the background.\u2019<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Pope Leo, the first pontiff from the US, responded on Monday by saying he would keep raising his voice against conflict, adding that the Christian message, rooted in the primacy of peace, was being \u201cabused\u201d.<\/p>\n It is extremely unusual for a pope, who leads Catholics around the world, to answer a foreign leader publicly.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d Leo told Reuters<\/em> aboard a papal flight to Algiers, where he is embarking on a 10-day tour to four African countries.<\/p>\n \u201cToo many people are suffering in the world today,\u201d he said. \u201cToo many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there\u2019s a better way.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to other reporters, the pope said: \u201cI have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly.\u201d<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Catholics on social media lambasted Trump for attacking the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church, who they believe is the successor of St. Peter, one of Jesus\u2019 12 apostles.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no ambiguity about the situation now,\u201d Massimo Faggioli, an expert on the papacy, told Reuters<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n He compared the comments to efforts by the leaders of Germany and Italy during World War Two to draw the late Pope Pius XII to support their causes.<\/p>\n \u201cNot even Hitler or Mussolini attacked the pope so directly and publicly,\u201d said Faggioli.<\/p>\n Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was disheartened by Trump\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n \u201cPope 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.<\/p>\n Leo<\/a>, originally from Chicago, is known for choosing his words carefully.<\/p>\n He has emerged as an outspoken critic of the conflict with Iran in recent weeks and decried the \u201cmadness of war<\/a>\u201d in a peace appeal on Saturday.<\/p>\n Last year, he questioned whether the Trump administration\u2019s hardline immigration policies were in line with the Church\u2019s pro-life teachings, and called for a \u201cdeep reflection\u201d about the way migrants are being treated in the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone who says, \u2018I am against abortion but I am in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States\u2019, I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s pro-life,\u201d the pontiff said in September.<\/p>\n Trump wrote in his post on Sunday that \u201cLeo should get his act together as Pope\u201d and \u201cfocus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician\u201d.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s broadside against Leo also accused him of being \u201cweak on nuclear weapons\u201d, several days after the pope said the US president\u2019s threat to destroy Iranian civilisation<\/a> was \u201ctruly unacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n In a speech<\/a> on Palm Sunday last month in St. Peter\u2019s Square in the Vatican, the pope said God rejected the prayers of leaders who start wars and have their \u201chands full of blood\u201d, calling the conflict in Iran \u201catrocious\u201d.<\/p>\n Leo has also called on Trump to find an \u201coff-ramp\u201d to end the conflict and \u201cdecrease the amount of violence\u201d.<\/p>\n In his post, Trump suggested that Leo was only elected to lead the Catholic Church last year \u201cbecause he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump\u201d.<\/p>\n Leo said on Monday that he was not a politician and did not want to be drawn into a debate with Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cThe message of the Church, my message, the message of the Gospel: Blessed are the Peacemakers. I do not look at my role as being political, a politician,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Trump also had a rocky relationship with Leo\u2019s predecessor, Pope Francis, who criticised Trump\u2019s immigration policy proposals when he first ran for president and suggested Trump was \u201cnot a Christian<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n Trump had called Francis \u201cdisgraceful<\/a>\u201d in early 2016.<\/p>\n Washington and the Vatican have rejected reports of a rift.<\/p>\n On Friday, a Vatican official denied reports<\/a> that a top Pentagon official gave the church\u2019s envoy to the United States a \u201cbitter lecture\u201d over Pope Leo\u2019s criticisms of the Trump administration.<\/p>\n The story in the Free Press<\/em> \u2014which the Pentagon had already dismissed as \u201cdistorted\u201d \u2014 reported that Cardinal Christophe Pierre was summoned in January to the Pentagon, where he was given a dressing-down by US Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Elbridge Colby.<\/p>\n The military official reportedly told the cardinal that the US \u201chas the military power to do whatever it wants \u2014 and that the Church had better take its side\u201d.<\/p>\n Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement that \u201cthe account presented by certain media outlets regarding this meeting does not correspond to the truth in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n While both parties insist the meeting was cordial, the Holy See and the White House have openly been at odds over the Trump administration\u2019s hardline mass deportation campaign \u2014 which the pope called \u201cinhuman\u201d \u2014 and the use of military force in the Middle East <\/a>and Venezuela.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a>\u2018Someone has to stand up\u2019, Pope says<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/a>Catholics defend pope<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/a>Trump says Leo should \u2018get his act together\u2019<\/h2>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/a>Pope says he is not a politician<\/h2>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/a>Rejecting a rift<\/h2>\n