Pope Leo to Trump: I'm Not Afraid, and I Won't Stop Preaching Peace

Pope Leo XIV said Monday that he has "no fear" of the Trump administration and will keep speaking out against war, escalating an already bitter clash with President Donald Trump after the White House attacked the pontiff over his criticism of the Iran conflict and US immigration policy. Speaking to reporters aboard the papal plane to Algeria, Leo said the Church's duty is to proclaim the Gospel as "a peacemaker," not to follow the political logic of governments.

The comments were Leo's fullest response yet to Trump, who on Sunday called the pope "weak on crime" and "terrible for foreign policy," then doubled down before reporters after returning from Florida. The feud has intensified as Leo condemns the language of war and urges dialogue, while Trump and his allies portray the pope's stance as political interference.

The pope's remarks came less than a day after Trump blasted him on social media as "WEAK on Crime" and "terrible for Foreign Policy," then escalated further after returning from Florida, saying he was not a fan of the pontiff and accusing him of being "very liberal" and of "catering to the Radical Left."

But on the flight to North Africa, Leo made clear he had no interest in trading insults. "I don't want to get into debate with him," he said, while warning that "the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing." Reuters and OSV both reported that Leo said he does not see his role as political and does not want to operate from the same foreign policy framework Trump does.

"We are not politicians," Leo said. "We are not looking to make foreign policy ... with the same perspective that he might understand it." Instead, he returned to the same idea again and again: peace, dialogue and multilateralism. "I will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the States to look for just solutions to problems," he said.

He also sounded more pastoral than combative. "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," he said. AP reported that Leo separately told reporters he was sorry to hear Trump's comparison between the Vatican's peace appeals and the president's own conduct, but said he would continue what he believes is "the mission of the church in the world today."

While the clash between Washington and the Vatican has intensified, it's not new, and it has gotten extreme since the War on Iran. On March 31, Leo publicly appealed to Trump and other world leaders to "come back to the table" and seek solutions through dialogue, saying he hoped Trump was looking for an "off-ramp" to reduce the violence in the Middle East. In the days that followed, he condemned threats to destroy Iranian civilization as "truly unacceptable," denounced what AP called the "delusion of omnipotence" fueling the war, and became an increasingly direct moral critic of the administration's rhetoric.

Sunday night's rupture was then amplified by 60 Minutes, which aired a segment featuring Leo's anti-war message and unusually blunt comments from Cardinals Blase Cupich, Robert McElroy, and Joseph Tobin. That put a distinctly American Catholic face on the Vatican's criticism just before Trump fired back.

Monday's setting mattered too. Leo was speaking as he began an 11-day Africa trip through Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea, a journey OSV said was "meant to be the first trip of the pontificate" and one Reuters described as focused on Africa's needs, interfaith dialogue, and peace. In other words, while Trump was escalating a personal feud, Leo was trying to widen the frame to suffering beyond Washington.