Pope Leo has rejected claims that he supports nuclear weapons, responding to a tirade from US President Donald Trump who accused him of 'endangering a lot of Catholics' with his stance on the Iran war. Speaking to journalists on Tuesday night after leaving the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo, the first US-born pontiff said: 'The mission of the church is to preach the gospel, to preach peace.'
The pope made a plea for honesty in political debate, stating: 'If anyone wants to criticise me for proclaiming the gospel, let them do so with the truth: the church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons for years, there is no doubt about that.' He added that he simply hopes to be listened to 'because of the value of God's word.'
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt: 'The pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and I don’t think that’s very good. I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people.' In the Vatican, the remarks were met with puzzlement; Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, described them as 'a bit strange, to say the least.'
This is not the first time Trump has attacked the pope. In April, he called Leo 'weak on crime' and 'terrible on foreign policy' after the pope criticised the war on Iran. Trump also shared an AI-generated image of himself as a Christ-like figure before deleting it. Pope Leo, who marks his first year as pontiff on Friday, had not planned to speak this week but felt it necessary to respond.
The pope is due to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Vatican on Thursday in an effort to ease tensions. The meeting will be the first known private audience Leo has had with a member of Trump's cabinet since Rubio and Vice-President JD Vance met the pope last May. US Ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, expects a 'frank' conversation, while Rubio has played down the rift, saying 'obviously we had some stuff that happened' but there is 'a lot to talk about with the Vatican.'
