{"id":2000108477,"date":"2026-04-13T13:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T11:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000108477"},"modified":"2026-04-13T13:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T11:59:10","slug":"pope-leo-xiv-says-he-has-no-fear-of-donald-trump-after-clash-over-iran-war-remarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/pope-leo-xiv-says-he-has-no-fear-of-donald-trump-after-clash-over-iran-war-remarks\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo XIV says he has \u2018no fear\u2019 of Donald Trump after clash over Iran war remarks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Speaking to reporters aboard the papal aircraft on Monday, the U.S.-born pontiff responded to Trump\u2019s recent criticism by insisting that his messages should not be interpreted through a political lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,\u201d Leo said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m sorry to hear that, but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the Church in the world today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pope, the first American to lead the Catholic Church, stressed that his appeals for peace and reconciliation are not directed at any individual leader. He said his repeated warnings against what he called a \u201cdelusion of omnipotence\u201d driving global conflicts were meant as a moral, not political, critique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will not enter into debate. The things that I say are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone,\u201d he said. \u201cThe message of the Gospel is very clear: \u2018Blessed are the peacemakers.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In remarks to other reporters, Leo added plainly: \u201cI have no fear of the Trump administration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exchange comes after Trump launched a forceful attack on the pope over the weekend, criticizing Leo\u2019s comments on the Iran war and accusing him of being \u201cvery liberal\u201d and \u201cweak on crime.\u201d The president also suggested the pontiff should \u201cstop catering to the Radical Left\u201d and condemned his opposition to aspects of U.S. foreign policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a fan of Pope Leo,\u201d Trump said while traveling back from Florida to Washington, escalating his criticism in both social media posts and comments to reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his posts, Trump also objected to the pope\u2019s earlier remarks suggesting that talk of overwhelming military force in Iran reflected dangerous thinking, arguing that Leo had overstepped by commenting on geopolitical strategy. He further claimed the pope should avoid political issues altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The White House\u2019s criticism followed a period of heightened tensions between Washington and the Vatican, as Leo increasingly warned against escalating rhetoric around the Iran conflict. The pope has previously described threats of large-scale destruction as \u201ctruly unacceptable\u201d and cautioned against what he sees as the religious justification of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, later said he was \u201cdisheartened\u201d by the tone of the president\u2019s remarks, stressing that the pope speaks as \u201cthe Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump, however, doubled down on his criticism, reiterating that he was elected \u201cin a landslide\u201d to carry out his foreign policy agenda and suggesting the pope had been elevated in part due to his American nationality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I wasn\u2019t in the White House, Leo wouldn\u2019t be in the Vatican,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the escalating rhetoric, Pope Leo emphasized that he would continue his global tour of Africa, which began Monday with a visit to Algeria, where he is expected to meet civil authorities and later travel to Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will not shy away from announcing the message of the Gospel,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation, and looking for ways to avoid war any time that\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Pope Leo XIV addresses journalists during the flight heading to Algiers on April 13, 2026. Pope Leo XIV embarks on April 13 on an 11-day visit to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea for his first major international trip since becoming pontiff in May 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pope Leo XIV has said he has \u201cno fear\u201d of President Donald Trump\u2019s administration following a sharp public exchange over the U.S.-Israel conflict in Iran, defending the Vatican\u2019s calls for peace as rooted in the Gospel rather than politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000108479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[151,69],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000108477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-editors-choice","tag-homehighlights","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000108479,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WI6VPKGAUFGL5IGQ3MGSJFPT74.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1200,"height":800,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WI6VPKGAUFGL5IGQ3MGSJFPT74.jpg","width":150,"height":100},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WI6VPKGAUFGL5IGQ3MGSJFPT74.jpg","width":300,"height":200},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WI6VPKGAUFGL5IGQ3MGSJFPT74.jpg","width":768,"height":512},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WI6VPKGAUFGL5IGQ3MGSJFPT74.jpg","width":1024,"height":683},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WI6VPKGAUFGL5IGQ3MGSJFPT74.jpg","width":1200,"height":800}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000108477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000108477"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000108477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000108480,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000108477\/revisions\/2000108480"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000108479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000108477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000108477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000108477"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000108477"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000108477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}