Catholics warn of serious juncture as Trump targets Pope Leo XIV
President Donald Trump, whose war with Israel against Iran has drawn criticism from Pope Leo XIV, called the pontiff “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” in a lengthy Sunday night post to his website Truth Social. Amid growing concerns of Catholic leaders, relations between the president and the head of the Catholic Church hit an all-time low on Monday, with the pontiff saying he has “no fear” of Trump’s scathing remarks, while the president drew intense ire for posting an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ. “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote, nor does he want “a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States.” “Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician,” the president wrote with his typical flair for capitalization. Leo XIV denied that he had been speaking out against Trump, but rather against the “delusion of omnipotence” …
