ABOARD PAPAL PLANE (Reuters) – Pope Leo told Reuters on Monday that he plans to continue speaking out against war after US President Donald Trump's direct attack on the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Church.
In comments aboard the papal flight to Algiers, where the first US pope is starting a 10-day tour to four African countries, the pontiff also said the Christian message was being "abused".
"I don't want to get into a debate with him," Leo told Reuters as he greeted journalists on the plane. "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 loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems," he said, speaking on English.
"Too many people are suffering in the world today," said Leo. "Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there's a better way."
"The message of the church, my message, the message of the Gospel: Blessed are the Peacemakers. I do not look at my role as being political, a politician," he said.
Leo, originally from Chicago, has emerged as an outspoken critic of the US-Israeli war on Iran in recent weeks and decried the "madness of war" on in a peace appeal on Saturday.
Trump, in an apparent response to the pope's criticisms of both the conflict and the White House's hardline immigration policies, said late on Sunday that Leo was "terrible".
"Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.