Pope Leo addressed the ‘rich and powerful’ in a new message today – as the Vatican’s feud with Donald Trump and JD Vance continues
Pope Leo addressed the need to resist “the whims of the rich and powerful” today after being criticised by Donald Trump.
The Pope, who is currently touring Africa, urged Cameroon’s government to resist the super wealthy while speaking in front of President Paul Biya.
“It is time to examine our conscience and take a bold leap forward,” he told Biya, Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute and other leaders.
“In order for peace and justice to prevail, the chains of corruption – which disfigure authority and strip it of its credibility – must be broken,” Leo said in an unusually direct speech for a papal trip overseas.
“Hearts must be set free from an idolatrous thirst for profit.” He also called for an end to the Anglophone war in Cameroon, in which thousands of people have been killed.
It comes amid a growing back and forth between the Pope and Trump, with the US president attacking the pontiff over his criticism of the Iran war, and the Pope responding that he has “no fear” of the Trump administration.
On Sunday, Trump slammed the pope as “weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy” before telling reporters: “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” the president wrote in a scathing Truth Social post, adding: “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
Yesterday, the Pope issued a message on X addressing “the arrogant”. He said: “God’s heart is torn apart by wars, violence, injustice and lies. But our Father’s heart is not with the wicked, the arrogant, or the proud. God’s heart is with the little ones and the humble, and with them He builds up His Kingdom of love and peace day by day. Wherever there is love and service, God is there.”
Later, JD Vance pushed back on Pope Leo’s claim that God is never on the side of those who wage a war, saying there is a “more than 1,000 year tradition of just war theory”.
Speaking at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia yesterday, Vance added: “We can, of course, have disagreements about whether this or that conflict is just.”
The Vatican has since responded to Vance, warning the “just war” doctrine was formed “before drones” and is increasingly difficult to justify in modern warfare.
The Vatican’s editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, said “just war” was developed centuries ago, when wars were fought with swords – not machine-guided drones.
He said: “Reflections based on the theology of past centuries and possible justifications for war fail to take into account that when theologians of earlier times wrote about these issues, wars were fought with swords and clubs – not with deadly weapons and machine-guided drones, a reality that raises moral questions of dramatic intensity. There has been a growing awareness that war is not a path to be followed.”
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