Updated
Updated · The Guardian · May 5
Trump attacks Pope Leo XIV over Iran nuclear stance
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · May 5

Trump attacks Pope Leo XIV over Iran nuclear stance

9 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 5
  • Two days before Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets Leo at the Vatican, Trump said the pope was “endangering a lot of Catholics” and “a lot of people”.
  • Leo has not endorsed Iranian nuclear arms, but has repeatedly opposed the US-Israeli war on Iran and urged ceasefires and dialogue across the Middle East.
  • US ambassador Brian Burch said Rubio’s Thursday talks would be frank but denied any deep rift, after earlier Trump criticism of Leo and separate tensions with Italy’s Giorgia Meloni.
When a president's claims clash with the Pope's moral authority, whose voice will sway the world?
How might the US-Vatican rift reshape global alliances and the role of moral leadership?
Can diplomacy mend a rift rooted in fundamentally different worldviews on war and peace?