Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Over the weekend, President Trump publicly attacked Pope Leo XIV on social media, calling the Holy Father “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Later, he posted an image of himself in a biblical robe, rays of light emanating from his hands, in what can only be described as a messianic self-portrait, which was deleted this morning. These actions are deeply disrespectful and offensive, not because they wound the Church’s pride, but because a sitting U.S. President is publicly mocking the Successor of Peter while apparently casting himself in divine terms.
Pope Leo XIV is not a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ.
His voice does not rise from the chambers of government or the calculations of diplomacy. It rises from the Gospel, from the Beatitudes, where Christ himself declares: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God” (Mt. 5:9). When the Holy Father speaks against war, when he calls for dialogue over destruction, when he pleads for the protection of civilians and the dignity of every human life, he is not entering a political debate. He is fulfilling his sacred duty as the Successor of Peter.
This is not new. This witness has been the voice of the papacy for generations.
Pope John XXIII, in his landmark encyclical Pacem in Terris, written at the height of the Cold War, called on all peoples and all nations to build a world order rooted in truth, justice, love, and freedom rather than military dominance. Pope Paul VI stood before the United Nations in 1965, as American combat forces were escalating in Vietnam, and declared with unmistakable urgency: “No more war, war never again.” Pope John Paul II, who knew firsthand the brutality of totalitarianism, traveled the world as a tireless apostle of peace, challenging every ideology that placed power above the dignity of the human person — including opposing the Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq. Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis continued in this same tradition without wavering.
From the very beginning of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV has called for disarmament, dialogue, and the conversion of hearts as necessary conditions for a lasting peace. His voice has been consistent across every conflict, not merely this one. Last November, he called out by name the countries where Christians face discrimination and persecution — Nigeria, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Sudan — decrying frequent attacks on communities and places of worship and asking that “all violence may cease.” In January, as anti-government protesters were being killed in the streets of Tehran, Pope Leo lamented that “ongoing tensions continue to claim many lives” and prayed that “dialogue and peace may be patiently nurtured in pursuit of the common good of the whole of society.”
To call that weakness is to misunderstand or to deliberately distort what Jesus taught us.
I join my brother bishops in expressing my concern at the President’s words. Disagreement between the Church and any government is not new; such tensions have existed throughout history. But there is a way to engage those differences with respect for the office of the papacy and the dignity of dialogue. The remarks made this weekend fell far short of that standard.
Continue to pray, dear brothers and sisters, for our Holy Father, for our nation’s leaders, and for all those suffering in wars and conflicts across this wounded world. This is how we answer disrespect: not with anger, but with intercession. Not with contempt, but with the love that casts out fear.
Let us continue to join Pope Leo in praying for peace across the globe, our common home.
May the peace of the Risen Christ reign in all hearts.
Most Rev. Oscar Cantú
Bishop of San José