Name: Pope Leo, first U.S.-born pontiff, emerges as pointed Trump critic
Uploaded: 2026-04-02T19:04:05.599Z
Duration: 2 min 44 s
Description: Pope Leo XIV last May became the first U.S. leader of the global Catholic Church, but for the initial ten months of his tenure he mostly avoided comment about his home country and never once mentioned President Donald Trump publicly. That era has come to an end.

Pope Leo XIV last May became the first U.S. leader of the global Catholic Church, but for the initial ten months of his tenure he mostly avoided comment about his home country and never once mentioned President Donald Trump publicly. That era has come to an end.

Rome

Pope Leo, the first US-born pope, has shifted from his previous reticence to directly address US political matters, issuing strong criticism of President Donald Trump and the US-Israeli military actions in Iran. His recent Palm Sunday homily condemned those who wage war, a statement interpreted as targeting US officials involved in the conflict.

Vatican officials have expressed concern about the global direction under Trump's leadership, citing issues such as the Iran war, Venezuela, and Cuba. As the Pope leads major Vatican events ahead of Easter, his willingness to directly name world leaders signals a new, more outspoken approach to international affairs.

Pope Leo, first U.S.-born pontiff, emerges as pointed Trump critic

Since becoming the first US-born leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo has largely avoided comment on his home country. He'd never mentioned President Donald Trump publicly until now. But that era has come to an end, according to Reuters Vatican correspondent Joshua McElwee. So Vatican officials have been telling me for the past 10 months that Pope Leo is quite cautious about how he talks about the United States. What seemed to change this week is that Pope Leo has become more and more vocal in criticism of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran that began the Iran war that is now in its second month. The Pope on Palm Sunday, which is the celebration that opens Holy Week for Catholics, the most important week of the year, gave a homily in which he said that God rejects the prayers of those who wage war because they have blood on their hands. This is a very strong thing for the Pope to say. Those comments were interpreted by conservative Catholic commentators as aimed at US Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth. May his almighty and eternal arms. Who's previously invoked Christian language to justify the joint US-Israeli military action. The Pope's sharp criticism of the Iran war and his direct naming of Trump on Tuesday marks a significant shift in tone from the pontiff. Hopefully he's looking for an offering. Hopefully he's looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing. The pontiff Leo chose to use an American colloquialism the president and administration officials would understand. I think broadly speaking, Vatican officials like much of the world are aware that President Trump is taking a lot of moves that are controversial and divisive. And they're quite worried about the direction of the world. They're worried about the atmosphere of violence in the Iran war, but also in Trump's decision to remove President Maduro in Venezuela or Trump's threats against Cuba and possibly looking for regime change in Cuba. And I think generally there's a great concern for where will the world be in the next few years and what should the Vatican's voice, what should the Pope's voice be calling for? Leo on Thursday began four days of Vatican events leading up to Easter Sunday when he will deliver a special blessing and message from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. It's one of the most closely watched appointments on the Pope's calendar and one where pontiffs often make a major international appeal. And I think what we're seeing from Pope Leo is perhaps a recognition that not beyond speaking in general terms with regard to the world situation, he's more willing or seeing it as more important now to kind of name names and also to mention President Trump by name.

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