Pope Leo says he was not seeking to debate Donald Trump when he criticised “tyrants” for spending billions on wars in a speech earlier this week.
The pontiff said the remarks, delivered days after a high-profile spat with the US president, had been written a fortnight earlier – “well before the president ever commented on myself”.
“And yet as it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate, again, the president, which is not in my interest at all,” he told reporters aboard a flight to Angola on Saturday.
On Monday, Trump launched a scathing attack on the first American Pope – who has been a vocal critic of the US-Israeli military operation in Iran – as “terrible for foreign policy”.
The Pope, who is on a tour of Africa, said a “certain narrative that has not been accurate” had developed, citing “the political situation created” by Trump’s comments.
In response to the pontiff’s latest remarks, US Vice-President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism as an adult, said he was “grateful to Pope Leo for saying this”.
“While the media narrative constantly gins up conflict – and yes, real disagreements have happened and will happen – the reality is often much more complicated,” Vance added.
Earlier in the week – before the Pope’s speech referring to “tyrants” – Vance had urged the Vatican to “stick to matters of morality”.
