Pope Leo XIV Responds to President Trump's Criticism "The mission of the Church is to proclaim the Gospel, to preach peace. If anyone wants to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so with the truth."

Pope Leo XIV has responded to the latest verbal attack by U.S. President Donald Trump on May 5, the president accused him in a radio interview of “endangering” Catholics by his opposition to the Iran war.
Trump said this in an interview on May 5 with Hugh Hewitt, a conservative talk radio host, saying “the pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” “I don’t think that’s very good,” Trump continued.

Trump has claimed at times that Pope Leo, supports Iran owning nuclear weapons; yet, the pope never stated this and has always called for the rejection of nuclear weapons.

“But I guess if it’s up to the pope, he thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. Previously, on social media post Trump called Pope Leo “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy.”

 Pope Leo XIV Responds:
At Castel Gandolfo, Leo XIV answered journalists' questions and commented on US President Trump's latest critical statements: "The Church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons for years. I hope to be heard because of the value of God's word." Regarding his meeting with US Secretary of State Rubio, the Pope expressed hope for a "good dialogue" to "understand each other better."

"The mission of the Church is to proclaim the Gospel, to preach peace. If anyone wants to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so with the truth." Following Cardinal Pietro Parolin this morning, Pope Leo XIV himself commented on today's statements by US President Donald Trump, who once again criticized the Pontiff.

Outside Villa Barberini, his residence in Castel Gandolfo, Leone stopped with a group of journalists and answered their questions: "The Church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons for years, so there is no doubt about that," the Pope said, responding to Trump's claims that the Pontiff considers it acceptable for Iran to possess nuclear weapons, putting all Catholics at risk. by...

"I simply hope to be heard because of the value of God's word," Leo XIV emphasized, reiterating that he had "already spoken from the moment I was elected, and now we are approaching the anniversary. I said: peace be with you."

Regarding his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, scheduled for the morning of Thursday, May 7, the Pope expressed hope that it would be "a good dialogue" to arrive "with trust" and "openness" at "understanding each other well." "I think the issues he is coming to discuss are not the ones we are hearing today. Let's see...", Pope Leo added, again referring to the US president's remarks.

Pope Leo XIV said: "But I have already said from the very moment I was elected and the anniversary is now approaching. Peace be with you. The church's mission is to preach the gospel, to preach peace. If anyone wishes to criticize me for proclaiming the gospel, let them do so with truth. The church has for years spoken out against all nuclear weapons. So there is no doubt about that. And so I simply hope to be heard for the sake of the word of God. To talk about just war today, it's a very complex problem and we have to analyze it on many levels. But ever since the entrance into the nuclear age, the whole concept of war has to be re-evaluated in terms today. And and I always believe that it's much better to enter into dialogue than to look for arms to support the arms industry which gains billions and billions of dollars each year instead of sitting down at the table solving our problems and using money to solve humanitarian issues, hunger in the world, etc. Thank you very much."