Leo defends Gospel message of peace after Trump attacks

‘I have no fear of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the Church is here to do.’

Pope Leo said he has “no fear of the Trump administration” after the US president attacked him in public comments and on social media.

“I am not a politician and I do not want to enter into a debate with him,” the Pope told reporters on his flight from Rome to Algiers on Monday.

“I do not think the message of the Gospel should be abused as some are doing. I continue to speak strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, dialogue, and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems,” he said.

“Too many people are suffering today, too many innocent lives have been lost, and I believe someone must stand up and say there is a better way to do this.”

Over the past week, Pope Leo had described President Donald Trump’s threats to destroy “a whole civilisation” in Iran as “unacceptable” and prayed for an end to war in a peace vigil at St Peter’s.

He previously rebuked leaders for invoking God to wage war, saying that “He does not listen” to their prayers.

On Sunday, Trump wrote on social media that the Pope is “terrible on foreign policy” and “weak on crime”.

“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 criticises the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, in a landslide, to do, setting record low numbers in crime, and creating the greatest stock market in history.”

Trump claimed the conclave elected Leo “because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump”.

“If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump said. “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!”

Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said he was “disheartened that the president chose to write such disparaging words”.

“Pope Leo is not his rival, nor is the Pope a politician,” the archbishop said in a statement on Sunday. “He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”

Trump repeated his comments to reporters on Sunday evening, calling Leo “a very liberal person” who “likes crime”, and saying: “We don’t like a pope who says it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon. We don’t want a pope that says crime is OK in our cities. I don’t like it, I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo.”

During his flight on Monday, Leo said he does not “look on my role as being political” and insisted that the Church’s message was that of the Gospel: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

“I say this to all world leaders, not only [Trump]: let us end wars and promote peace and reconciliation,” he said. “I have no fear of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the Church is here to do.”

He continued: “We are not politicians, we don’t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand, but I do believe in the message of the Gospel, as a peacemaker.”

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