By Courtney Mares and Kate Scanlon
OSV News
ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO ALGIERS — Pope Leo XIV said April 13 he has “no fear” of President Donald Trump’s administration and responded to Trump’s criticism by telling journalists that his message to the U.S. president is “the message of the Gospel: Blessed are the peacemakers.”
Speaking aboard the papal plane, a chartered ITA Airways flight, en route from Rome to Algiers, the pope said that he had seen Trump’s recent social media post lashing out at him the night before the papal trip.
“I have no fear neither of the Trump administration nor speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the church is here to do,” the pope said during the flight in a video recorded by OSV News.
The pope spoke in response to Trump’s comments April 12 calling the pope “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy,” as tensions escalate in the Middle East.
“We are not politicians,” Pope Leo said. “We are not looking to make foreign policy … with the same perspective that he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the Gospel: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ is the message that the world needs to hear today.”
Pope Leo added that he did not intend to engage in a political dispute.
“I do not look at my role as being political, a politician,” the pope said. “ I don’t want to get into debate with him. I don’t think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing.”
“The message of the church, my message, the message of the Gospel: Blessed are the peacemakers,” he underlined.
Pope Leo has been a staunch critic of combat operations generally, including those initiated by the U.S. and Israel against Iran on Feb. 28. He also condemned Trump’s threat to wipe out Iran’s “whole civilization,” which the president later backed down from, citing negotiations with Pakistani mediators.
The pontiff held a special evening prayer vigil for peace in St. Peter’s Basilica April 11.
“I will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the States to look for just solutions to problems,” Pope Leo said on the way to Algiers.
“Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way,” he added.
Trump, writing on Truth Social platform late April 12 said he did not want “a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country. And 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, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Pope Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, has called for the rejection of nuclear weapons, and there is no evidence he supports Iran having such weapons.
Several journalists aboard the plane asked Pope Leo about Trump’s comments to which the pope explained, “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, and I am sorry to hear that but I will continue on with what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.”
Pope Leo spoke to journalists on the first flight of the pope’s 11-day, four-country tour of Africa in which he visited Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
In a separate statement late April 12, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was “disheartened” by Trump’s remarks.
“Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician,” Archbishop Coakley said. “He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”
Trump told reporters at the White House April 13 that he would not apologize to Pope Leo despite a statement from a prominent bishop who is a member of his Religious Liberty Commission.
Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, called the president’s April 12 comments “entirely inappropriate and disrespectful” in an April 13 statement posted to the X social media platform.
It is the pope’s prerogative to speak on matters of Catholic doctrine, Bishop Barron said, adding that he thinks “the President owes the Pope an apology.”
Asked about Bishop Barron’s statement, Trump said he would not apologize.