US President Donald Trump has taken an unusually harsh line against the Catholic Pope Leo, criticizing the cleric’s stance against US immigration policy and the war in Iran, writes the BBC.
In a post on his social Truth Social, Trump accused the Pope of being weak on crime and incompetent in foreign policy. Later, the US President told reporters that he was not a big fan of the Pope.
The Pope has sharply criticized the war, and called Trump’s threat to destroy the entire Iranian civilization unacceptable, calling for a way to end the conflict. However, in general, cases when the Catholic Pope directly criticizes the statements of world politicians are rare.
There are more than 70 million Catholics in the US, so more than 20% of the country’s population belongs to this denomination. That includes US Vice President JD Vance.
Trump’s harsh remarks came as the pope embarked on an 11-day visit to Africa. Trump wrote on the 12th of April that the pope should “get his act together,” adding that Leon was weak on nuclear weapons, an apparent reference to Tehran’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons, which was one of the reasons the US and Israel went to war with Iran. Trump also said that the pope was elected only because he was American and that the Vatican thought it was the best way to deal with Trump.
“If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump said.
When reporters later asked Trump to explain his remarks, he said: “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job, he likes crime, I guess.” Trump added that the Pope is a very liberal person who does not believe that crime should be stopped, and who believes that one should not stop a country that wants to acquire nuclear weapons to blow up the world.
Trump’s rhetoric immediately caused discontent among Catholics. One of the experts, Massimo Faggioli, noted that not even Hitler or Mussolini dared to attack the Pope so directly and publicly.
The Pope has repeatedly condemned international conflicts in public and called for de-escalation of the situation in the Middle East. In his Easter address, the Pope, without mentioning specific countries, said that people are becoming accustomed to violence and are becoming indifferent to thousands of deaths. He called for laying down arms and for those who have the power to start wars to choose peace.
Leon has also criticized Trump’s immigration policies, questioning whether it is possible for someone so pro-life (a term usually associated with abortion opponents) to also advocate for the inhumane treatment of immigrants.
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