Pope Leo XIV said on Saturday that it was “not in my interest at all” to debate US President Donald Trump about the Iran war, but that he would continue preaching the Gospel message of peace.
Leo spoke to reporters aboard the papal plane flying from Cameroon to Angola as part of his 11-day tour of Africa.
He addressed the spiralling back-and-forth saga of Mr Trump’s critiques of his peace message, which have dominated news headlines this week.
But the American pope also sought to set the record straight, insisting that his preaching is not directed at Mr Trump, but reflects the broader Gospel message of peace.
“There’s been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects, but because of the political situation created when, on the first day of the trip, the president of the United States made some comments about myself,” he said.
“Much of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said.”
Mr Trump launched the criticism on his social media platform Truth Social on the night of April 12, when he criticised Leo’s preaching about peace as the war, which began with joint US-Israeli strikes on February 28 and was followed by Iran’s retaliation, raged on.
Mr Trump accused Leo of being soft on crime, cozy with the left and said that the first American pontiff owed his election to him.
Leo has issued consistent calls for peace and dialogue, and has denounced the use of religious justification for war. Specifically, he called Mr Trump’s threat to annihilate Iranian civilization “truly unacceptable”.
The Vatican has stressed that when Leo preaches about peace, he is referring to all wars ravaging the planet, not just the Iran conflict.