Pope Leo launches thinly veiled attack on Trump after he posts bizarre Jesus picture
The Pope has spoken out after Donald Trump said he ‘wasn’t a fan’ of him and posted an image depicting himself as Jesus Christ.
The feud between the US president and the Pope deepened this weekend when Trump took aim at Pope Leo XIV on his Truth Social platform, saying the first American pope should ‘stop catering to the Radical Left’.
Now, Pope Leo told Reuters he plans to continue to speak out against the war, telling reporters: ‘I don’t want to get into a debate with him.
‘I don’t think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing. I will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promote dialogue and multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems.
‘Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way. The message of the church, my message, the message of the Gospel: Blessed are the Peacemakers. I do not look at my role as being political, a politician.’
The war of words between the two figures erupted after the head of the Catholic church branded the Iran war ‘unjust’.
He then posted a bizarre AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus and also wrote on Truth Social: ‘Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible on foreign policy. 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.’
He also praised Leo’s brother Louis, adding: ‘I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!’
Trump later told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, where he landed with Air Force One: ‘I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.’
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Over the weekend, Pope Leo said a ‘delusion of omnipotence’ was fuelling the US-Iran war, and demanded that political leaders stop and negotiate peace.
Trump later said the US will blockade Iranian ports from 3pm UK time on Monday – a move the UK, which has minesweepers in the area, is not taking part in.
Who is Pope Leo XIV’s brother Louis?
Louis Prevost is the elder brother of the Pope and told ABC in October 2024 that he was a supporter of the MAGA movement.
In an interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored, Prevost said he was viewed as ‘the black sheep of the family’, adding he toned down his tweets and Facebook posts because they always ‘end up on the news’.
In the same chat, he revealed he speaks to Leo ‘maybe once a week’.