Pope downplays feud with Trump, says reporting skewed
Pope Leo tried to downplay his verbal spat with US President Donald Trump, saying reports of comments he has made so far during his African tour are “not true in every respect”.
The first US-born pope to speak English to reporters on his flight to Angola for the third leg of his 10-day African tour said his comments in Cameroon two days ago denouncing the world being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” were not aimed at Trump.
Leo said that this speech was “prepared two weeks ago, long before the president made any comments about me and the message of peace that I support.”
“In fact, it seemed as if I was trying to argue with the president, and that is none of my business,” the pope said on Saturday. he said.
The pope’s remarks about tyrants were made at a peace meeting in the city of Bamenda, the epicenter of an almost decade-long separatist conflict in Cameroon’s Anglophone region.
A week ago, as Leo was preparing to go on tour, Trump called him “weak on crime and terrible on foreign policy” in a post on Truth Social.
The pope said Saturday that his sermon was not directed at Trump but reflected the Bible’s broader message of peace.
“There is a certain narrative that is not true in all respects, but that emerged because of the political situation that occurred when the President of the United States made some comments about me on the first day of the trip,” the Pope said.
“Most of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what was being said.”
Leo constantly called for peace and dialogue and condemned the use of religious justifications for war.
In particular, he called Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization “truly unacceptable” in an online post.
The Vatican emphasized that when Leo preached about peace, he meant all the wars ravaging the planet, not just the Iranian conflict.
The pope said he will continue to preach the Gospel going forward.
“I am coming to Africa primarily as a priest, as the head of the Catholic Church, to be with all Catholics in Africa, to celebrate together, to encourage and to accompany them,” he said.
He noted some readings from the upcoming liturgy about what it means to be a Christian and follow Christ, promoting brotherhood and sisterhood; “but he’s also looking for ways to promote justice in our world, to promote peace in our world,” he said.
with AP
