Pope Leo hits back at Trump, says he has no fear of US administration

Washington, Apr 13: US-born Pope Leo XIV hit back at US President Donald Trump on Monday, saying the Vatican’s call for peace is based on the Gospel and that he is not afraid of the Trump administration.

"To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is," Leo told AP aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria.

"And I'm sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today,” he added.

History's first US-born pope stressed that he was not making a direct attack against Trump or anyone else with his general appeal for peace and criticisms of the "delusion of omnipotence" that is fuelling the Iran wars and other conflicts around the world.

"I will not enter into debate. The things that I say are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone. The message of the Gospel is very clear - Blessed are the peacemakers,'" Leo said.

"I will not shy away from announcing the message of the Gospel and inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation, and looking for ways to avoid war any time that's possible,” he said.

Speaking to other reporters, he added, "I have no fear of the Trump administration."

Trump delivered an extraordinary broadside against Leo on Sunday night, saying he didn't think the US-born global leader of the Catholic Church is "doing a very good job" and that "he's a very liberal person," while also suggesting the pontiff should "stop catering to the Radical Left".

Flying back to Washington from Florida, Trump used a lengthy social media post to sharply criticise Leo, then kept it up after deplaning, in comments on the tarmac to reporters. "I'm not a fan of Pope Leo," he said.

“"If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican," Trump wrote, adding, "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!"

Trump's comments came after Leo suggested over the weekend that a "delusion of omnipotence" is fuelling the US-Israel war in Iran. While it's not unusual for popes and presidents to be at cross purposes, it's exceedingly rare for the pope to directly criticise a US leader - and Trump's stinging response is equally uncommon, if not more so.

"Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," the President wrote in his post, adding, "I don't want a Pope who thinks it's OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon."

AP