US President Donald Trump attacked Pope Leo XIV in a Truth Social post last night that accused the head of the Catholic Church of being “weak on crime” and “catering to the radical left”.
Mr Trump’s tirade comes as Pope Leo’s anti-war proclamations continue, which are being interpreted in Washington as criticisms of the American-Israeli war on Iran.
“Those who pray are aware of their own limitations; they do not kill or threaten with death. Instead, death enslaves those who have turned their backs on the living God, turning themselves and their own power into a mute, blind and deaf idol (Ps 115:4–8), to which they sacrifice every value, demanding that the whole world bend its knee,” Leo said in an address on Saturday.
“Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life,” he added.
Meanwhile, on Truth Social, President Trump wrote that “unfortunately, Leo’s Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me, nor does the fact that he meets with Obama Sympathizers like David Axelrod, a LOSER from the Left, who is one of those who wanted churchgoers and clerics to be arrested”.
“Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church,” the US president said.
President Trump took issue with the Pope’s lack of support for the Trump Administration’s foreign policy, particularly in Iran and Venezuela, writing, “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country”.
In subsequent comments, Mr Trump described the first American Pope as a “very liberal person” who he said isn’t doing a “very good job”.
President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop of Oklahoma City, Paul Coakley responded to the attack saying that he was “disheartened” by the comments.
“I am disheartened that the President chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father,” Archbishop Coakley said.
“Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”
Catholics reacted with outrage across social media to the president’s post.
Catholic writer and editor of Unherd US, Sohrab Ahmari, described Mr Trump’s post as “demented”.
“Demented. In its claims, and in the tone it strikes toward the Vicar of Christ, the spiritual leader of 1.4 billion,” he wrote.