Summary
Visitors at the Vatican on Tuesday reacted with criticism and incredulity to U.S. President Donald Trump’s public attacks on Pope Leo XIV, as the pope continued his trip to Africa. Several people at the Vatican said Trump’s comments were inappropriate and argued that the pontiff should focus on peace rather than being drawn into political disputes.
The dispute has unfolded publicly, with Trump drawing attention on social media to what he said was Pope Leo’s posture toward war and other matters. The pope, while away from Rome, had called Trump’s threats toward Iran “truly unacceptable,” according to the report, prompting Trump to respond with sharp language.
“Its just ridiculous,” said Joerg Soler, visiting from Switzerland, arguing that the pope’s job is to speak about peace and care about people worldwide. Mariella Acciaioli, a French tourist, said Trump’s rhetoric had gone too far and called on leaders to mobilize to deal with behavior she described as exceeding every limit.
U.S. tourist Paul Sarauskas said he found Trump’s broadside “absurd,” adding that the president should “keep his nose out of religion” and that the pope was trying to talk about peace and helping others while the administration was doing the opposite. Sarauskas said the rhetoric was driving division and war and fostering hate.
Italian journalist Massimo Franco, who has written a new book on U.S.-Vatican relations, said Trump seemed to expect the American pope to be “subservient” to the United States. Franco said a pope “must be a pope,” adding that he must respond to a wider community and help address distorted views of the United States if he believes U.S. policy is at stake.
The Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a prominent Italian Jesuit theologian and an undersecretary at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, said Trump’s fury was directed “against a moral voice.” Spadaro told Italian Radio 24 that the president is “powerless,” arguing that he “can’t bring the pope to the same terrain where he can dominate with language,” and he said the moral force of the church involves power being judged by criteria power itself cannot control.