Pope Leo XIV has blasted the “tyrants” spending billions on war and condemned “an endless cycle of destabilisation and death” after his public spat with US President Donald Trump over the war in Iran.
The US-born pope made his latest comments during a visit to the African nation of Cameroon where he praised peace movements and warned against allowing religion to enter conflicts.
“Blessed are the peacemakers,” he said to crowds who had gathered to meet him.
“But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.
“The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters.”
The pontiff did not name any individual as he called for a “decisive change of course” that led away from conflict.
Mr Trump has hit out at the pope several times this week for opposing the war on Iran.
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social
He later said “Leo should get his act together as Pope” and that he was “very much against what I’m doing with regard to Iran”.
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Australian Catholic University’s Rome campus director, Dr Claudio Betti, told ABC’s The World the US president had lost favour among Italian Catholics for this attack.
“Everybody is against what this President Trump has said on the pope,” he said.
“The pope still counts in Italy, he’s still an important figure.”
A recent survey conducted in Italy by group Youtrend found 79 per cent of Italians disapproved of Mr Trump’s handling of the Iran war.
Ahead of the temporary ceasefire with Iran implemented last week, Mr Trump posted on Truth Social that a “whole civilisation would die tonight” if Iran did not agree to a deal with the United States and open the Strait of Hormuz.
Dr Betti said it was that comment that “sparked the whole issue” with the pope.
“The wording is very bad,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV leads a meeting for peace at Saint Joseph’s Cathedral in Bamenda, Cameroon. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
But he said the pontiff’s comments were merely “part of the Catholic doctrine”.
“He just repeated what many others have said before him and, of course, that’s what we should have expected,” Dr Betti said.
“My feeling is the pope is trying to downplay the issue, he will continue to speak the truth and to speak against war.
“I think that’s part of his legacy.
“Now the ball is not in the Pope’s field, it’s in President Trump’s field.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury has also come out in solidarity with the pope, calling for peace in the Middle East.
Archbishop Sarah Mullally, who assumed her role as head of the Church of England in January, said she stood with the pope in his “courageous call for peace”.
“As innocent people are killed and displaced, families torn apart, and futures destroyed, the human cost of war is incalculable,” she said in a statement.
“It is the calling of every Christian – and of all people of faith and goodwill – to work and pray for peace.”
Though she didn’t mention Mr Trump by name, the Archbishop said that Christians must “urge all those entrusted with political authority to pursue every possible peaceful and just means of resolving conflict’’.
Earlier this week, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was one of Mr Trump’s closest allies, also came out in support of the pope.
“I find President Trump’s words towards the Holy Father unacceptable,” she said.
“The pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn every form of war.”
