Foreign Policy World Brief By Alexandra Sharp Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the Vatican taking aim at the White House, a 10-day cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon, and Russia’s deadliest attack on Ukraine this year. Have tips or feedback? Hit reply with your thoughts. American President vs. American Pope  Pope Leo XIV (center) holds a white dove before releasing it after he met with the Cameroonian community of Bamenda on April 16.Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images Pope Leo XIV may be the Vatican’s first American leader, but he is certainly no friend of the White House. Since assuming the papacy last May, the Chicago native has maintained a relatively low global profile. However, the eruption of war in Iran has effectively thrown that playbook out the window, with Leo now taking aim at the Trump administration for its conduct in (and rhetoric surrounding) the Middle East. “The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants,” Leo said during a speech in Cameroon on Thursday, in what many observers interpreted as a thinly veiled reference to U.S. President Donald Trump. “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.” The United States is estimated to have already spent at least $28 billion on the Iran war before the start of the cease-fire. According to an NBC News investigation published last week, that amount could have funded a year of child care for 2 million minors or paid rent for 1.2 million people. Such criticism could be particularly damning for the White House, as several prominent figures in the Trump administration have used their positions to promote Christian nationalist beliefs or used Christian ideology to defend the administration’s actions, including immigration and overseas military operations. Just last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth compared the daring rescue of a U.S. crew member shot down over Iran to the resurrection of Jesus. “Shot down on a Friday—Good Friday. Hidden in a cave, a crevice, all of Saturday. And rescued on Sunday. Flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday,” Hegseth told reporters. “A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for, a nation rejoicing. God is good.” Leo denounced this practice on Thursday. “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,” the pope said. These comments, which Leo delivered during his four-country tour of Africa, cap off a week of angry rebukes from the White House. These began on Sunday, when Trump accused the pope of being “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Writing on Truth Social, Trump said, “I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States,” adding that Leo would not have become pope had Trump not been elected. That same day, Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated photo of himself being likened to Jesus. He has since deleted the post, arguing that he thought it was a portrayal of him as a doctor. But on Wednesday, the U.S. president posted another AI-generated image, this time of Jesus embracing Trump, with a caption that implies that God put Trump in power. Yet the pope appears unconcerned. After Trump’s initial comments on Sunday, Leo told reporters, “I have no fear of the Trump administration.” In response, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance—the first Catholic convert to be elected to that office and a self-described “baby Catholic” who in 2025 acknowledged that “as a convert … there’s a lot I don’t know”—warned Leo to “be careful” when talking about matters of theology. |
No comments:
Post a Comment