Pope Leo XIV said Monday that he has “no fear” of the Trump administration, following US President Trump's sharp remarks on the Pope due to his opposition to the war on Iran waged by the US and Israel.
On April 11, the Chicago-born pontiff declared “Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life,” during a prayer vigil at St. Peter’s Basilica. His statement comes as the indirect negotiatons between the US and Iran hosted in Islamabad failed to reach a breakthrough.
Trump lashed out at the pontiff Monday, dismissing him on Truth Social as “WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Trump accused Vatican leadership of being “out of touch” with the realities of national security.
Earlier, during Palm Sunday mass, the day following the assalut on Iran on March 28, Pope Leo had warned that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them. ”
Presidential broadside
The President’s broadside was a direct response to Leo’s stiffest rebuke to date, in which the Pope told reporters that Trump’s repeated threats last week of “erasing” Iranian civilization were “truly unacceptable.” The Pope warned that the moral cost of such threats would fall disproportionately on innocent children, the elderly, and non-combatants.
US administration officials have since sought to frame the Church’s intervention as an overreach, arguing that religious leaders have no place lecturing the US government on its “maximum pressure” war strategy.
Just war and preemptive violence
The dispute has triggered a deep institutional schism within the United States. In January 2026, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a rare joint statement rebuking the administration’s use of military force.
Conversely, progressive theologians have gone further, suggesting that the US government is now effectively “at war with the Catholic Church” over the systematic downgrading of civilian protections in modern warfare.
The war has exposed a rift among the American flock. A significant segment of white, socially conservative Catholic voters continues to support Trump’s aggressive posture, creating a divide between the pews and the pulpit.
Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the bishops' conference, argued that recent strikes—ranging from Iran to Venezuela—have crossed the line from legitimate defense into “preemptive violence” inconsistent with Catholic teaching.
This echoed concerns from senior Vatican officials and Middle Eastern patriarchs that the precedents set in Iran could normalize long-range, preemptive strikes globally without international oversight.
Regional alarms
From Rome, Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu, the Archbishop of Tehran–Isfahan, reinforced this plea, describing the current cycle of retaliation as a spiralling “adevnture with no return.” Leading a prayer vigil for the Persian Gulf, Mathieu urged an end to the violence that threatens the fragile Christian presence embedded within Iran and the wider region.
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, spoke out against the use of “pseudo-religious language” to mask military agendas, referring to the Trump administration invocation of “Holy War” rhetoric.
Pizzaballa offered a poignant reminder of where divine favor truly lies, stating: “God is with those who die in war, not with those who abuse his name. ”
The Cardinal went further, identifying the theological danger of the current rhetoric. He argued that “the abuse and manipulation of God’s name to justify this and any other war is the gravest sin we can commit at this time.”
The gravity of these words was underscored by physical restrictions on the ground. On March 29, the Cardinal was personally barred by Israeli police from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Palm Sunday observances, before Israeli authorities succumbed to public pressure.
As the US attempts to continue its campaign of hard-power coercion, the question remains whether the Church can maintain its role as a credible mediator in a world where superpowers appear increasingly impatient with appeals for restraint and the preservation of civilian life.
