The sovereign pontiff took advantage of his trip to Africa to launch a new arrow, against “a handful of tyrants” – on a continent that hosts some of them – but also against “the masters of war”. “They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing, on devastation,” he lamented on Thursday, during his stop in Cameroon, “while the resources needed for healing, education, and reconstruction are nowhere to be found”.
Donald Trump attacks the “weak” Pope Leon XIV Donald Trump thought he could treat Leon XIV like a regular Democratic opponent. But the Pope is not one. The first to remind him of this was Giorgia Meloni. She governs the country around which Christianity revolves, and even though she was a fan of the American President, who saw her as the model partner in Europe, she could not tolerate the diatribe. The tension between Rome and Washington is now palpable.
The controversy intensifies even more in the United States, about six months before the midterms. Catholics are a minority in the country, but their influence can be decisive in certain districts. It is understandable that in Pennsylvania, the Republican congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, unsure of his re-election in November, condemned “the offense”, even “the sacrilege” committed by Trump, whose remarks he deems “unworthy of a President”. He demands an apology, a bold move not often seen on the benches of the current presidential camp in the Capitol.
God and flags Conservative Christians are naturally grateful to Donald Trump for championing several of their causes, such as against abortion. However, they are less appreciative of some aspects. Like when the President presents himself as the incarnation of Jesus on social media. Or when his Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, believes he is quoting a passage from the Bible in public, but is actually reciting a prayer invented by Quentin Tarantino in “Pulp Fiction”!
The blunder could not better illustrate the Pope’s anger, reprimanding those who “manipulate religion in the name of God to satisfy their own military, economic, or political interests, dragging what is sacred into darkness and filth.” The message is even more unsettling for Republicans as it is Leon XIV, born in Chicago, and not their President, who today calls upon the values of humanity, solidarity, and generosity on which America was founded 250 years ago.
