Pope Leo XIV condemned "masters of war" amid public conflict with Donald Trump

Pope Leo XIV, on a visit to Cameroon, issued a strong condemnation of world leaders who spend billions of dollars on armed conflict while the world is “ravaged by a handful of tyrants.” The pontiff called for a decisive change of global course, emphasizing the inadmissibility of using religious rhetoric to justify wars.

According to the publication “European Truth” with reference to Sky News, this statement of the first in the history of the American pope was a response to the recent criticism of him by US President Donald Trump. “The masters of war pretend not to know: it takes a moment to destroy and often a lifetime to rebuild,” the head of the Catholic Church said. He emphasized that huge resources are directed to killing, while funds for medicine and education are catastrophically lacking.

The conflict between the Vatican and the White House escalated after Donald Trump criticized the pontiff verbosely on social media. The US president said he “doesn’t like a pope who is willing to say it’s ok to let Iran possess nuclear weapons”. Trump also expressed the opinion that Leo XIV would not have been elected to head the Vatican if Trump himself had not held the presidency. In addition, the American leader expressed dissatisfaction with the position of Italian Prime Minister Giorgi Meloni, who earlier criticized his attacks on the head of the church.

Despite the harsh pressure from the American administration, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that he is “not afraid” of criticism and intends to continue his mission to protect humanitarian values. In his speeches, the pontiff did not name specific names, but his call to renounce militarism sounded as sharp as possible in the context of the current political confrontation.