The Pope has claimed the world is ‘being ravaged by a handful of tyrants’ as his feud with Donald Trump escalates.
Pope Leo XIV made the unusually forceful remarks during a trip to Cameroon on Thursday after the US President launched a tirade against him over his repeated criticism of the war in Iran.
Leo, the first American pope, also decried leaders who use religious language to justify wars and urged a ‘decisive change of course’.
He condemned ‘an endless cycle of destabilisation and death’ on a visit to Bamenda, a ‘bloodstained’ region of Cameroon which has been gripped by a separatist insurgency for nearly a decade.
‘Those who rob your land of its resources generally invest much of the profit in weapons, thus perpetuating an endless cycle of destabilisation and death,’ the US-born pontiff said in a speech at Saint Joseph’s Cathedral.
He added: ‘The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild.
‘They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found.’
It comes amid a growing row between Trump and the head of the Catholic Church, who has in recent weeks criticised the war in the Middle East.
In a fiery rant on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump branded the pontiff ‘a very liberal person’ who is ‘WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy’.
He also said that Leo, 70, was only made Pope ‘because he was an American’, and ‘If I wasn’t in the White House , Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.’
He added: ‘I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime I guess.
‘We don’t like a pope who says it’s ok to have a nuclear weapon. We don’t want a pope that says crime is ok. I am not a fan of Pope Leo.’
Trump then sparked further controversy by posting an AI-generated image seemingly depicting himself as Jesus Christ, triggering backlash among his usual supporters.
On Thursday, the Pope criticised those who manipulate religion and the name of God ‘for their own military, economic and political gain’, during a speech at Saint Joseph’s Cathedral.
The Pope arrived at the cathedral under military escort in a vehicle with bulletproof windows, blessing the joyful crowds which had gathered to greet him.
Singing, blowing horns and making music, people waved Vatican and Cameroonian flags while dressed in traditional outfits bearing the pope’s image.
In a veiled dig at Trump’s administration, he said: ‘Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.
‘It is a world turned upside down, an exploitation of God’s creation that must be denounced and rejected by every honest conscience.’
On Monday he said that he plans to continue speaking out against war, telling Reuters: ‘I don’t want to get into a debate with him.’
Speaking aboard the papal flight to Algiers, where Leo began a 10-day tour to four African countries, he added: ‘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 dialog and multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems.
‘Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way.’
The Archbishop of Canterbury rushed to the Pope’s defence on Thursday, claiming she stood with Leo’s ‘courageous call for a kingdom of peace’.
Dame Sarah Mullally said: ‘I stand with my brother in Christ, His Holiness Pope XIV, in his courageous call for a kingdom of peace. As innocent people are killed and displaced, families torn apart, and futures destroyed, the human cost of war is incalculable.
‘It is the calling of every Christian and of all people of faith and goodwill to work and pray for peace. We must also urge all those entrusted with political authority to pursue every possible peaceful and just means of resolving conflict.’
The Pope has repeatedly condemned the war in Iran, saying it has caused ‘absurd and inhuman violence’.
Last Saturday he told worshippers at St Peter’s Basilica: ‘Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!’
He then criticised the president over his threats against Iran, when he warned that ‘a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again’.
The Pope called it a ‘truly unacceptable’ statement.
Trump’s comments have caused a rupture with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, his closest European ally.
The right wing leader had been a vociferous supporter of Trump, but she strongly criticised his decision to go to war with Iran, and on Monday, denounced his tirades against the pope as ‘unacceptable’.
She added: ‘The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal that he calls for peace and condemns all forms of war.’
Trump hit back at the Italian premier in an interview with Corriere della Sera, claiming he has not spoken with Meloni ‘for a long time’ and she was ‘very different from what I thought’.
‘She is the one who is unacceptable,’ he said, ‘because she doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance.’
Trump first attacked the pontiff on Sunday night, hitting out at his alleged weakness on crime and foreign policy.
Should religious leaders speak this bluntly on global politics?
He had earlier told reporters on Sunday: ‘I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime.’
Trump also accused the leader of the Catholic Church, which has 1.4billion members, of ‘toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon’.
On Tuesday he again lashed out again, writing: ‘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’s public row with the leader of the Vatican has prompted widespread condemnation from public figures and politicians.
Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian took to X in the Pope’s defence, saying that he condemned ‘the insult to [Pope Leo] on behalf of the great nation of Iran, and declare that the desecration of Jesus, the prophet of peace and brotherhood, is not acceptable to any free person. I wish you glory by Allah.’
Meanwhile, Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez said that ‘while some fill the war with war, Leo XIV sows peace with courage. It will be an honour to receive him in Spain in a few weeks.
