Donald Trump has launched a sharp attack on Pope Leo after the pontiff spoke out against the war involving Iran.
Fighting between Iran, Israel and the US has dominated recent weeks, before a two-week ceasefire was agreed.
In the meantime, the US is aiming to secure a deal with Iran, with a central condition reportedly tied to Tehran abandoning any path toward nuclear weapons.
The conflict has drawn condemnation from a range of figures. The latest round of hostilities began after a joint US-Israel strike on Iran on February 28, which reportedly led to the assassination of Iran’s leader, Ali Khamenei.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also commented on the situation, distancing Britain from involvement and telling citizens that it’s “not our war”.
Pope Leo has previously offered a stark moral warning about warfare, saying God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them”.
He has also cited a passage from Isaiah, stating that “even though you make many prayers, I will not listen — your hands are full of blood”.
Although Pope Leo has not singled out Trump by name, the former president has now targeted the world’s first American pope in a public post.
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Sunday night (April 12).
“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 continued.
“And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes 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.”
He also claimed in the same post that Leo was elevated to the papacy “because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump”.
Trump added: “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.
“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 Vatican has been contacted for comment.