President Donald Trump has delivered an extraordinary broadside against Pope Leo XIV, saying he didn’t think the US-born leader of the Catholic church was “doing a very good job” and that he was “a very liberal person”, while also suggesting the pontiff should “stop catering to the Radical Left”.
Flying back to Washington from Florida on Sunday night, Trump used a lengthy social media post to sharply criticise Leo, then kept it up in comments on the tarmac to reporters.
“I’m not a fan of Pope Leo,” he said.
But instead this is what the pope replied, Speaking to reporters aboard the papal plane to Algeria on Monday, Pope Leo XIV responded to trump saying :
“I think that the people who read will be able to draw their own conclusions: I am not a politician, I have no intention of entering into a debate with him. Rather, let us always seek peace and put an end to wars. I am not afraid of the Trump administration. I speak about the Gospel, I am not a politician. I do not think the message of the Gospel should be abused in the way some people are doing. I will continue to speak out loudly against war, to try to promote peace, multilateral dialogue between states in order to seek the right solution to problems. The message of the Church is the message of the Gospel, blessed are the peacemakers; I do not see my role as that of a politician, I do not want to enter into a debate with him. Too many people are suffering in the world.”
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