‘Blessed are the peacemakers’: Pope Leo says he does not fear Trump

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WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump refused to apologize to Pope Leo XIV on Monday after criticizing the pontiff for his opposition to the war in Iran -- and he sought to explain away a now-deleted social media post depicting himself as Jesus by saying he had thought the image was of him as a doctor.

Trump was asked about his comments toward the U.S.-born head of the Catholic Church, as well as the post depicting himself as a healer, in a hastily called question-and-answer session with reporters at the White House.

“He was very much against what I’m doing with regard to Iran, and you cannot have a nuclear Iran. Pope Leo would not be happy with the end result,” Trump said, adding, “I think he’s very weak on crime and other things so I’m not” going to apologize.

“He went public,” the Republican president added. “I’m just responding to Pope Leo.”

That response followed Leo pushing back on Trump’s broadside against him the previous evening, telling reporters that the Vatican’s appeals for peace and reconciliation are rooted in the Gospel and that he doesn’t fear 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 The Associated Press 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.”

The back-and-forth between the world’s two most influential Americans served to deepen a burgeoning schism as the U.S. war in Iran stretched into its seventh week.

History’s first U.S.-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 Iran war and other conflicts around the world.

“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,” said Leo, who said he had a different perspective on foreign policy than elected officials.

“I will continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems,” he said.

Trump speaks to his much-criticized social media post

The image posted by the president Sunday night showed Trump wearing a biblical-style robe and laying hands on a bedridden man as light emanates from his fingers -- while a soldier, a nurse, a praying woman and a bearded man in a baseball cap all look on admiringly. The sky above is filled with eagles, an American flag and vaporous images.

“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and it had to do with the Red Cross,” Trump said. “It’s supposed to me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better. A lot better.”

He blamed the “fake news” for any confusion over the image, though it drew criticism from a wide range of people, including some of Trump’s own evangelical supporters, who objected to the notion that Trump was likening himself to Christ. Even Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, assailed the “desecration of Jesus” while also speaking up to defend the pope.

The post was deleted from Trump’s account late Monday morning. Trump didn’t provide details on how that happened.

Trump had charged that Leo is not ‘doing a very good job’

The president criticized the pope in a lengthy social media post while flying back to Washington from Florida on Sunday night. He kept up the denunciation after deplaning, telling reporters, “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”

Leo said Saturday during an evening prayer service at St. Peter’s Basilica that a “delusion of omnipotence” was fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran. The comments came the same day that the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan during a fragile ceasefire.

The pope had earlier named Trump directly and expressed optimism that the president would seek “an off-ramp” in Iran. An even stronger condemnation came after Trump warned of mass strikes against Iranian power plants and infrastructure, writing on social media that “an entire civilization will die tonight.” Leo described that as a “threat against the entire people of Iran” and said it was “truly unacceptable.”

While it’s not unusual for popes and presidents to be at cross purposes, it’s exceedingly rare for the pope to directly criticize a U.S. leader -- and Trump’s stinging response is equally uncommon.

“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.”

Leo’s opposition to war irked Trump

Leo, who began an 11-day trip to Africa on Monday, has previously said that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” He’s also referred to an Old Testament passage from Isaiah, saying that “even though you make many prayers, I will not listen -- your hands are full of blood.”

Still, in his comments on Monday, as in his Sunday night social media post, Trump went far beyond the war in Iran in criticizing Leo.

“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.” His post also claimed that Leo was only elected pontiff “because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”

“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!”

In his comments to reporters after stepping off Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said of Leo, “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime, I guess,” adding, “He’s a very liberal person.”

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, also said he was “disheartened” by Trump’s comments.

“Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician,” Coakley said in a statement. “He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”

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Will Weissert, Josh Boak and Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press

Winfield reported from aboard the papal plane.