Pope Leo has said he will continue to “speak out loudly” against war after the US president launched an unusual and scathing attack over his opposition to US immigration policy and the war in Iran, the BBC reports.
Donald Trump accused the pontiff of being “WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy” in a Truth Social post, later telling reporters he was “not a big fan.”
The Pope told reporters en route to Algeria that he did not want to get into a debate with Trump but would continue to speak out against war.
He has been a staunch critic of the Iran war, calling Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization “unacceptable” and calling for him to find an “off-ramp” to end the conflict.
There are more than 70 million Catholics in the US, about 20% of the population. They include Trump’s Vice-President JD Vance.
Trump’s remarks came as the pontiff embarked on an 11-day trip to Africa, his second major foreign trip since being elected last year.
The US president wrote in Sunday’s post that the Pope “should get his act together” and said he was “weak on nuclear weapons”, apparently referring to Tehran’s attempts to become a nuclear power, cited as one of the reasons for the US and Israel going to war with Iran.
