Pope Leo shares message of unity amid spat with Trump: ‘We can live in peace’

The ongoing squabble between the Trump administration and the Vatican over the war in Iran took another twist on Wednesday when Pope Leo shared a message of peace and healing after the latest angry broadside from the White House.

On Tuesday, JD Vance capped several days of insults by insinuating the pontiff was not being truthful in matters of theology, and did not understand the concept of war.

“How can you say that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword?” the vice-president said during a Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia, at which he was heckled by anti-war protesters.

“Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated Holocaust camps? It’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology … you’ve got to make sure it’s anchored in the truth.”

A day earlier, Vance, a Catholic convert, advised the US-born Pope Leo XIV “to stick to matters of morality” after an earlier post on X in which Leo denounced the US-Israel war in Iran.

“God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs,” Leo wrote.

On Wednesday, the pope spoke with reporters aboard the papal plane heading for Cameroon on an 11-day visit to Africa. He did not directly address Vance’s comments, or a barrage of recent social media insults by Donald Trump, who labelled him “weak” and “terrible”.

But his comments made clear that the five-day spat, which began on Saturday when Leo said during evening prayers at St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City that a “delusion of omnipotence” surrounded the Iran war, was on his mind.

He used as a conduit his visit on Tuesday to Annaba, the ancient city of Hippo where St Augustine, the theological and philosophical giant of the early church, lived as a bishop for more than 30 years.

“His writings, his teaching, his spirituality, his invitation to search for God and to search for truth is something that is very much needed today, a message that is very real for all of us today as believers in Jesus Christ, but for all people,” Leo said.

By going to Hippo, Leo said he wanted to offer the church and the world a vision that St Augustine offers in terms of seeking “unity among all peoples and respect for all people in spite of the differences”.

He did not take any questions from reporters, but continued to push the message that dialogue and healing, rather than force, anger and hatred, were essential ingredients in resolving conflict.

Leo recalled that the vast majority of Algerians are Muslim, but that they respect and honor St Augustine as “one of the great sons of their land”. Such an attitude, he said, helped build bridges between Christians and Muslims, and promoted dialogue.

“The visit to the mosque was significant to say that although we have different beliefs, we have different ways of worshiping, we have different ways of living, we can live together in peace,” Leo said.

“And so I think that to promote that kind of image is something which the world needs to hear today.”

Leo’s approach to the quarrel contrasts sharply with that of Trump. As well as repeatedly insulting the head of the Catholic church on his Truth Social platform, the president was on Monday forced to take down a “blasphemous” AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus Christ-like healer after backlash from his supporters on the religious right.

Trump’s attacks have generally not played well even among his own loyal base, and certainly in Rome, where a majority of tourists and business owners who spoke to the Guardian defended the pope.

This week’s dispute is not the first time that Trump, a fervent promoter of white Christian nationalism, has mocked the Vatican or upset the 1.4bn-strong Catholic church.

In May last year, during the official mourning period for Pope Francis, Trump announced he “would like to be pope”, and posted an image of himself dressed in a white cassock and miter, and wearing a gold crucifix necklace.

On Wednesday, Trump shared an AI image of himself being held by Jesus Christ with a caption that referenced the exposing of “satanic, demonic, child sacrificing monsters”, and said “God might be playing his Trump card.” Trump wrote alongside the image and its accompanying text: “The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!!”

The Associated Press contributed reporting