US Vice-President JD Vance was heckled mid-speech as he took aim at Pope Leo over his criticism of the war in Iran.
Speaking at a Turning Point USA event in Georgia, Vance was interrupted by a shouting member of the audience as he argued the pontiff should ‘be careful when he talks about matters of theology’.
At one point, he even paused to address the disruption, telling the heckler to stop screaming while he finished answering a question.
The Republican firebrand had been responding to the Pope’s repeated condemnation of the conflict, in which he warned the violence was ‘absurd and inhuman’.
Vance said he respected the Pope’s role as an advocate for peace, but pushed back on his stance, questioning whether God could ever support those who ‘wield the sword’.
He cited historic examples including the liberation of France from the Nazis and the freeing of Holocaust victims, arguing that in such cases the answer was ‘yes’.
‘I think it’s very, very important for the Pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,’ Vance said, before briefly breaking off to deal with the heckler.
The Pope, the first American to lead the Catholic Church, had earlier insisted he had ‘no fear’ of the Donald Trump administration and would continue ‘speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel’.
His remarks have set up an increasingly public clash with Trump allies over the conflict, as divisions deepen over the moral framing of the war.
It comes as President Donald Trump lashed out at Pope Leo over his remarks opposing the war in Iran in a late-night post to his Truth Social page on Tuesday.
Pope Leo XIV has been vocally critical of the joint US-Israeli strikes in Iran, prompting the president to hit back and suggest that the US-born pontiff stay out of politics – a message he doubled down on in his post.
‘Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable,’ Trump wrote on his social media platform Tuesday night.
His repudiation of the pope came as the US military announced that a military blockade of the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway has been ‘fully implemented,’ leaving trade coming into and out of Iran ‘completely halted,’ officials said Tuesday night.
Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, made the announcement on X amid reports that a Chinese tanker and another vessel were forced to make U-turns after passing through the Strait, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.
Oil tanker Rich Starry is owned by Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping Co Ltd. and became a target for US sanctions because it was used to transport Iranian crude.
After circling the area late on Monday and initially turning back, the 600ft long vessel passed through the waterway on Tuesday.
It then turned around and headed back to the Gulf at 11am UTC.
Rich Starry is a medium-range tanker that is carrying about 250,000 barrels of methanol, according to the data. It loaded the cargo at its last port of call, the UAE’s Hamriyah, the data showed.
