阿尔及尔和伦敦——教皇利奥十四世周一回应了唐纳德·特朗普总统的批评，他在前往阿尔及利亚时告诉记者，他“不害怕”白宫。
“我不害怕特朗普政府，也不大声宣扬福音的信息，”教皇周一表示，他开始了对非洲四国为期一天的访问。“这就是我所信仰的。我被呼召去做教会被呼召去做的事。”
教皇周六呼吁结束冲突，但没有明确提到美国和以色列对伊朗的战争。“受够了战争，”利奥在梵蒂冈圣彼得大教堂的和平守夜活动中说道。
这罗马教皇还暗示“无所不能的错觉”正在助长美国和以色列在伊朗的战争，恳求国家领导人达成和平协议。
特朗普周日晚上在社交媒体上发帖，称教皇“在犯罪问题上软弱，在外交政策上糟糕透顶。”
“我不想要一个认为伊朗可以拥有核武器的教皇，”特朗普在他的帖子中说。
周一，特朗普表示，他不打算向教皇利奥道歉，此前他最亲密的天主教盟友之一、明尼苏达州威诺纳-罗切斯特教区的罗伯特·巴伦主教敦促他这样做。
“没有...因为教皇利奥说了一些错误的话，”特朗普在被问及道歉时说道。“他非常反对我在伊朗问题上的做法。你不能有一个核伊朗。教皇利奥不会对最终结果满意的。你会让数亿人死亡，这是不可能的。"
特朗普还表示，他在社交媒体平台上发布了一张人工智能生成的照片，将自己描绘成一个基督般的人物。这张图片后来被撤下了。
“是我。我确实发布了它，我认为这是我作为一名医生与红十字会有关——作为一名红十字会工作人员，我们支持这一点，”特朗普说，他指责媒体对帖子报道的反弹。“所以，我只是听说了这件事，我说，‘他们是怎么想出来的?’作为一名医生，应该是我让人们变得更好，我确实让人们变得更好，让人们变得更好。"
教皇出生在芝加哥，是第一位领导天主教会的美国人，他于2025年5月被提升到他的位置，这是特朗普第二个任期的几个月。当时的总统祝贺利奥在社交媒体上表示，成为教皇对一个美国人来说是“如此荣幸”。
教皇对几起武装冲突表示担忧，反复呼吁和平，包括提到苏丹的内战、俄罗斯-乌克兰战争以及以色列和黎巴嫩真主党之间的战斗。自从美国和以色列开始打击伊朗以来，他一直呼吁在伊朗和更广泛的中东实现和平。
自去年五月开始担任教皇以来，教皇一直是全球和平的强有力的使者。
他一再呼吁有关各方参与谈判，包括谚语3月1日，他“衷心呼吁有关各方承担起道德责任，在暴力升级成为不可逾越的鸿沟之前，阻止暴力升级。”他说过“上帝不会保佑任何冲突。”
利奥周一表示，他的评论“当然不是对任何人的攻击，福音的信息非常清楚，‘和平缔造者是有福的’。”"
“我不会回避宣扬福音的信息，邀请所有人寻找建立和平与和解的桥梁的方法，寻找在任何可能的时候避免战争的方法，”利奥继续说道。“把我的信息和总统在这里试图做的放在同一个平面上，我认为是不理解福音的信息是什么，我很抱歉听到这一点。”
特朗普周一早些时候呼吁教皇专注于“成为一名伟大的教皇，而不是政治家。”
“这严重伤害了他，更重要的是，这伤害了天主教会!”特朗普在自己的社交媒体网络上写道。
几个小时后，利奥在回答记者提问时谈到了与特朗普的明显紧张关系，“我不认为我的角色是政治性的...我不想和他争论。我不认为福音的信息会像一些人那样被滥用。”
他说:“我将继续大声疾呼反对战争，寻求促进和平，促进对话和各国之间的多边关系，以寻求解决问题的公正办法。”。“今天世界上有太多的人在受苦。太多无辜的人被杀害。我认为必须有人站出来说，‘有更好的方法来做这件事。’"
Pope Leo responds to Trump's criticism, saying he has 'no fear' of US administration
ALGIERS and LONDON -- Pope Leo XIV on Monday responded to criticism from President Donald Trump, telling reporters while traveling to Algeria that he has "no fear" of the White House.
"I have no fear of the Trump administration, nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel," the pontiff said on Monday, as he began a dayslong visit to four African nations. "That's what I believe in. I am called to do what the church is called to do."
The pope on Saturday called for an end to conflict, without explicitly mentioning the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. "Enough of war," Leo said during a peace vigil in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.
Thepopealso suggested "delusion of omnipotence" is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, imploring the country leaders to come to a peace agreement.
Trump on Sunday night posted on social media, calling the pope "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy."
"I don't want a Pope who thinks it's OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon," Trump said in his post.
On Monday, Trump said he has no plans to apologize to Pope Leo after one of his closest Catholic allies, Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota, urged him to do so.
"No ... because Pope Leo said things that are wrong," Trump said when asked about an apology. "He was very much against what I'm doing with regard to Iran. And you cannot have a nuclear Iran. Pope Leo would not be happy with the end result. You['d] have hundreds of millions of people dead, and it's not going to happen."
Trump also said he posted an AI-generated photo on his social media platform depicting himself as a Christ-like figure. The image was later taken down.
"It was me. I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor that had to do with Red Cross -- as a Red Cross worker, which we support," said Trump, who blamed the media for the backlash over the coverage of the post. "So, I just heard about it, and I said, 'How did they come up with that?' It's supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better, and I do make people better and make people a lot better."
The pope, who was born in Chicago and is the first American to lead the Catholic Church, was elevated to his position in May 2025, a few months into Trump's second term. The president at that timecongratulatedLeo, saying on social media that it was "such an honor" for an American to become pope.
The pontiff has voiced concern about several armed conflicts, repeatedly calling for peace, including mentioning the civil war raging in Sudan, the Russia-Ukraine war and the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. He has called for peace in Iran and the broader Middle East since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
The pontiff has been a strong messenger for global peace since the start of his papacy last May.
He has repeatedly called for the parties involved to engage in negotiations, includingsayingon March 1 that he was making "a heartfelt appeal to all the parties involved to assume the moral responsibility of halting the spiral of violence before it becomes an unbridgeable chasm." He has said that "God does not bless any conflict."
Leo said on Monday that his comments "are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone and the message of the Gospel is very clear, 'Blessed are the peacemakers.'"
"I will not shy away from pronouncing the message of the Gospel, of inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges for peace and reconciliation, of looking for ways to avoid war any time that's possible," Leo continued. "To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is and I'm sorry to hear that."
Trump early on Monday had called for the pope to focus on "being a Great Pope, not a Politician."
"It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!" Trump wrote on his social media network.
Responding to a question from reporters hours later, Leo said of the apparent tensions with Trump, "I do not look at my role as being political ... I don't want to get into a debate with him. I don't think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing."
"I will continue to speak out loud against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue, multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems," he said. "Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say, 'There's a better way to do this.'"
