Chicago-born Pope Leo has been a strident critic of the war in Iran, to the anger of the Trump administration. Photo / Getty Images
Pope Leo has said the world is “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants” amid an unprecedented and acrimonious clash with Donald Trump.
Speaking during a visit to Cameroon, the second leg of his four-nation tour of Africa, the first American pontiff accused world leaders of manipulating religion for their own “military, economic and political gain”.
“The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters,” Leo said.
He did not refer to Trump or any other leader by name, but many will interpret his remarks as a barb towards the US President following their bitter row.
“Blessed are the peacemakers,” Leo, who was elected the successor of Pope Francis last May, said. “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.”
Earlier this week, Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself as a Christ-like healer, laying his hand on a man who appeared to be on his deathbed.
“The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild,” Leo said. “They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found.”
The Chicago-born Pope has been a strident critic of the war in Iran, to the anger of the Trump administration.
Earlier this week, the US President attacked the pontiff for his stance on the Middle East and claimed that he was “weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy”.
“Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a nuclear bomb is absolutely unacceptable,” he said on Wednesday.
Trump then posted the AI-generated image depicting himself as a Jesus-like figure, triggering a backlash from his Catholic supporters in the US.
He later removed the image, but not long afterwards, he reposted on Truth Social a soft-focus image of himself being embraced by Christ.
Pope Leo, who was Cardinal Robert Prevost before being elected to the papacy, delivered his comments during a meeting in Bamenda, the largest city in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions.
The two English-speaking regions have suffered almost a decade of armed violence following attempts to secede from the rest of the mostly French-speaking country.
More than 6000 people have been killed, according to the International Crisis Group.
The conflict is rooted in Cameroon’s colonial history, when the country was divided between France and Britain after the First World War. English-speaking regions later joined French Cameroon in a 1961 UN-backed vote, but separatists say they have since been politically and economically marginalised.
A decade ago, English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion with the stated goal of breaking away from the French-speaking majority and establishing an independent state.
Trump first criticised the Pope as he arrived in Algeria at the start of his 11-day pontifical tour of Africa.
As well as criticising Leo, Trump came out with unexpectedly harsh remarks about Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, this week.
He was previously an admirer, regarding her as one of his strongest allies in Europe and praising her as “beautiful”.
All that changed this week when Meloni said that the US President’s criticism of Leo was “unacceptable”.
The rift with Washington widened when Trump criticised her for not backing the US and Israeli war in Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Meloni has insisted that Italy will not participate in the conflict and recently denied the use of a base in Sicily to American bombers.
“I thought she had courage,’’ Trump said. “I was wrong.”
He doubled down on his broadside against Meloni on Wednesday, saying that their relationship had been badly damaged.
“She’s been negative,” Trump told Fox News. “Anybody that turned us down to helping with this Iran situation, we do not have the same relationship.”
Meloni has reportedly told allies not to be provoked by his incendiary statements and social media posts and not to respond back and forth.
“No ping-pong guys,” she told her inner circle, according to Corriere della Sera newspaper on Thursday. “The relationship between Italy and the US is certainly not over. We will find ways to talk to each other, we don’t need to panic.”
Adolfo Urso, a cabinet minister and a member of Meloni’s Right-wing Brothers of Italy party, echoed that message.
“Italy and the United States are allied countries and maintain their relationship and alliance within international institutions, starting obviously with the Atlantic Alliance.”
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