Opposing War, Pope Leo Says He Is Not Afraid of Trump
The leader of the world’s Catholics, Pope Leo XIV, stated that he is not afraid of United States President Donald Trump, who has sharply criticised his call to end the war in the Middle East. Pope Leo affirmed that he has a “moral obligation” to speak out against war.
Before flying from Rome, Italy, to Algiers, Algeria, for an official visit, as reported by AFP on Tuesday (14/4/2026), the US-born Pope Leo was showered with criticism and condemnation by Trump.
Trump, in several statements, condemned Pope Leo’s recent comments calling for peace in the Middle East, which is grappling with a war sparked by the joint US-Israel attack on Iran at the end of February.
Trump further intensified his criticism of the Catholic Church leader, whom he called “weak”, stating “no need to apologise”.
“Pope Leo says wrong things. He strongly opposes what I am doing regarding Iran, and you cannot have Iran with nuclear weapons,” Trump emphasised in his latest statement.
Pope Leo responded to Trump’s criticism while speaking to journalists aboard the papal plane before arriving in Algiers. Pope Leo stated that he is “not a politician” and “does not intend to debate” with Trump.
“We are not politicians, we do not seek to make foreign policy as he mentions with the same perspective as he might understand,” he said.
“What I say is that the Church’s mission is very clear. The Gospel says… blessed are the peacemakers. I believe that the Church has a moral obligation to speak very clearly against war and to support peace and reconciliation,” Pope Leo stated.
Pope Leo then added: “I am not afraid, either of the Trump administration or of speaking loudly about the Gospel message.”
In his criticism, Trump called Pope Leo “playing around with a country (Iran) that wants nuclear weapons”. He criticised Pope Leo as “WEAK on evil, and bad on foreign policy”, while implying that the Vatican cardinals only elected Leo as Pope because he is American.
Trump added that he is “not a big fan of Pope Leo”.
Trump’s criticism has drawn condemnation from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who called Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo “unacceptable”. Meloni stated that “it is right and proper for (Pope Leo) to call for peace and condemn all forms of war”.