IT was a show that hogged the limelight: two prominent American compatriots launched ‘missile strikes’ at each other against the background of the war in Iran.
One is the most powerful temporal leader in the world and the other the spiritual head of the 1.4 billion-strong Catholics in the world.
US President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV collided head-on in their take on the Middle East conflict with each side justifying their criticism with no apologies offered or accepted. It was a display of raw emotions.
Both Americans have made their points and both comments have merits. In Trump’s eyes, the war in Iran is essentially to stop Iran from possessing nuclear weapons.
The pontiff took a diametrically opposite stand, hitting Trump directly for his “unacceptable” threat that the “entire civilization (of Iran) will die tonight”.
Trump relied mostly on intelligence reports of Iran purportedly developing nuclear weapons to launch his operation “Epic Fury” jointly with Israel.
The Holy Father only brandished the Bible where he quoted an Old Testament passage from the prophet Isaiah that said that “even though you make many prayers, I will not listen — your hands are full of blood”.
It is unlikely that the commander-in-chief in the White House had knelt down in his Oval Office and offered prayers before he lit the powder keg that blew up in the volatile region.
More likely, he is too busy planning military strategies with his generals to bother about “moral values” or religious teachings.
Nevertheless, in many instances, his administration has invoked God’s help to rally American troops, which certainly did not create much of an impact with the pope.
Although the pontiff opposes all wars, presumably including the war grinding on in Ukraine, his direct public condemnation of his fellow American in his conduct of the Iran war was unprecedented in the sense that the pope played the role of a politician.
Pope Leo could have just picked up the phone and called Trump to urge him to take steps to end the conflict peacefully. He had conducted such ‘phone diplomacy’ with Russian President Vladimir Putin appealing to him to make a “gesture that favours peace” to stop the brutal military campaign in Ukraine.
One wonders how would Putin react if the pope had publicly and directly attacked the Russian leader. He didn’t do it probably because he is afraid of this Ukraine butcher who had once threatened to launch missile attacks on Europe for allegedly interfering in the Ukraine war.
Iran was quick to support the pontiff’s outspoken political criticism which further infuriated Trump who did not expect one of his kind to openly oppose him instead of jumping on the American bandwagon.
As expected, the no-holds-barred president took it all personally and delivered some below-the-belt punches calling Pope Leo “weak on crime” and “terrible on foreign policy”, and someone who is not doing a “good job”.
Did all these personal blows rattle the Holy Father? Not a bit. He is not afraid of the Trump administration, which means the Oval Office can expect to hear more anti-war diatribe ringing in Trump’s ears.
Perhaps, the ‘war’ between these two Americans will intensify with Trump not giving way to the influence of clerical power nor Pope Leo to the dictates of temporal authority. Both are expected to exchange verbal blows with no prospects of reconciliation.
But the war in Iran is unlikely to end any time soon no matter how much the man of God and the man of earthly power spew mutual recriminations.
If anything, the spat will be a sideshow which can hurt the image of the Catholic church or damage the reputation of the White House, depending on how you interpret it.
However, both men do have a role to play in a world spiralling seemingly into Armageddon. The Vicar of Christ can continue with his papal mission to promote peace among nations, and the elected political leader by a ‘landslide’ can proceed to finish his mission either on the battlefield or in the diplomatic arena.
Pope Leo and President Trump each represents a picture of contrast but, ultimately, they will have to pursue the common goal of saving mankind from the horrors of another world war the like of which we don’t want to see. ‒ April 17, 2026
Phlip Rodrigues is a retired journalist.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main image: The New York Times
