VATICAN CITY — Tourists visiting St. Peter’s Square on Tuesday delivered sharp criticism of President Donald Trump following his recent social media attacks on Pope Leo XIV over the pontiff’s appeals for peaceful dialogue.
The unprecedented public feud between the American-born pope and the U.S. president has captured global attention. Trump labeled Leo as “weak” and influenced by the “radical left” in posts this week, responding to the pope’s statement that Trump’s threatening language toward Iran was “truly unacceptable.”
While Pope Leo continues his 10-day African journey, Vatican visitors rallied to defend his message of peace.
Swiss visitor Joerg Soler dismissed Trump’s comments as nonsensical. “It’s just ridiculous, because if the pope is not speaking about peace, and is not taking care about every people in the world, he’s not the pope,” Soler explained.
French tourist Mariella Acciaioli called the president’s behavior unacceptable. “It’s completely inappropriate,” she stated. “Things are getting too much. We need to mobilize everyone, especially our leaders, to deal with this behavior that is going beyond every limit.”
American visitor Paul Sarauskas expressed shock at the president’s unprecedented attack on the pontiff. “I think he needs to keep his nose out of religion. He’s telling the pope what to do. He’s telling the pope how to do his job,” Sarauskas said. “Where the pope just wants to do good things, right? He wants to talk about peace, about helping other people, whereas the current administration is doing something completely opposite. They’re just tearing people apart. They’re talking about division and war and hate.”
Italian journalist Massimo Franco, author of “Popes, Dollars and Wars” examining U.S.-Vatican diplomatic relations, suggested Trump anticipated the American pontiff would defer to U.S. interests.
“A pope must be a pope. He must respond to a wider community. And if he sees that Trump’s policy risks to give a distorted view of the United States, I think the pope is helping the United States as well, not just the United States, to find the right path,” Franco explained.
The Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a respected Italian Jesuit theologian serving as undersecretary to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, interpreted Trump’s anger as evidence of presidential weakness.
“He can’t bring the pope to the same terrain where he has brought everyone else, where he can dominate with language,” Spadaro told Italian Radio 24. “In this sense, the moral force of the church is evident. It is not a counter-power but a space in which power is being judged by criteria that power itself cannot control.”
