Pope Leo has responded after Donald Trump called him “weak” for criticizing the war in Iran.
The Catholic Pontiff said on Monday, April 13, that he plans to continue speaking out against war after U.S. President Donald Trump's direct attack on the him.
In comments aboard the papal flight to Algiers, where the first U.S. pope is starting a 10-day tour to four African countries, the pontiff also said the Christian message was being "abused".
"I don't want to get into a debate with him," Leo said as he greeted journalists on the plane. "I don't think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing."
Speaking to other reporters, Pope Leo added: "I’m not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for."
"We are not politicans. We do not look at foreign policy from the same perspective that he may have," the pope said, adding, "I will continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems."
"Too many people are suffering in the world today," Leo said. "Too many innocent people are being k!lled. 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," he said.
Leo, originally from Chicago, has emerged as an outspoken critic of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in recent weeks and decried the "madness of war" on in a peace appeal on Saturday.
Trump, in an apparent response to the pope's criticisms of both the conflict and the White House's hard-line immigration policies, said late on Sunday that Leo was "terrible".
"Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
