Trump Criticises Pope, Here is Italian Prime Minister Meloni's Response

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that Donald Trump’s comments about Pope Leo XIV were “unacceptable”. The US President accused the Pope of being “weak on handling crime and bad for foreign policy” in a lengthy post on Truth Social, and later told reporters that he was “not a big fan of his”. “The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and proper for him to call for peace and condemn every form of war,” Meloni said in a statement, as reported by the BBC and several foreign news agencies. Meloni, a Catholic who leads a right-wing coalition government, is a close ally of Trump and has so far been reluctant to condemn the US President’s harsh criticism of Pope Leo. Italian opposition parties criticised Meloni for failing to issue a statement promptly. Her coalition ally, Matteo Salvini, leader of the populist League party, said that “attacking the Pope… seems neither useful nor smart to do”. Following Trump’s statement, the Pope told reporters during a trip to Algeria that he did not want to argue with Trump but would continue to promote peace. Pope Leo said he was “not afraid” of the Trump administration and would continue to voice his opposition to war after the US President launched an unusual and sharp attack on his stance regarding the Iran conflict. He has been a vocal critic of the Iran war, calling Trump’s threats to destroy Iranian civilisation “unacceptable” and urging him to find a “way out” to end the conflict. On Monday, Trump reiterated his criticism, saying he would not apologise to the “very weak” Pope. In general, it is rare for a Pope to respond directly to statements from world leaders. There are more than 70 million Catholics in the US, about 20% of the population. Among them is Trump’s Vice President, JD Vance. Trump’s comments came as the Pope began an 11-day trip to Africa, his second major foreign trip since being elected last year.