In remarks that have been widely criticised, the US president used a lengthy social media post to sharply criticise Leo while he flew from Florida to Washington on Sunday night, then continued in comments on the tarmac to reporters. “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo”, he said.
Trump made the comments after Leo suggested over the weekend that a “delusion of omnipotence” was fuelling the US-Israeli war in Iran. While it is not unusual for popes and presidents to be at cross purposes, it is exceedingly rare for the pope to criticise a US leader.
Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Saturday, the day the US and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan during a fragile ceasefire. The pope did not mention the US or Trump by name, but his tone and message appeared to be directed at Trump and American officials, who have boasted of US military superiority and justified the war in religious terms.
The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said he condemned Trump’s “insult” in a message addressed to Leo on social media. “On behalf of the great nation of Iran, I condemn the insult to Your Excellency and declare that the desecration of Jesus (peace be upon him), the prophet of peace and brotherhood, is unacceptable to any free person”, he wrote.
Italy’s far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said Trump’s words were “unacceptable”.
Leo’s criticisms of the war have intensified since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran began. In ones of his harshest condemnations, he said God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them”.
