By NBC
Photos: Wikimedia Commons
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Pope Leo XIV hit back Monday after President Donald Trump sharply criticized the first American leader of the Catholic Church as “WEAK on crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy.”
Leo, who has been unusually direct in his criticism of the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran, told NBC News that he had “no fear of the Trump administration” and vowed to keep up his appeals for peace that he said were rooted in the gospel.
Trump leveled his criticism of the pope in remarks to reporters and on social media.
“I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime, I guess,” the president told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, late Sunday…
The pope responded while en route Monday to Algeria for the first stop of an 11-day tour of four African nations.
Speaking aboard the papal plane, the pope said “I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the church is here to do.”
He added: “We are not politicians, we don’t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the gospel, as a peacemaker.” READ MORE…
