Pope Leo's feud with Trump overshadows his spiritual homecoming

Pope Leo XIV came to North Africa to honor his spiritual forefather, St. Augustine, who preached that war was only justified to protect the innocent.

So perhaps it’s fitting the visit has been overshadowed by his escalating feud with Donald Trump over the first American pontiff’s criticism of the war in Iran.

Even when not mentioning Trump directly, Leo’s remarks during this 11-day African trip have been given a different meaning amid his public disagreement with the president.

“God’s heart is torn apart by wars, violence, injustice and lies,” he said Tuesday on a visit to a care home in the Algerian port city of Annaba. “But our Father’s heart is not with the wicked, the arrogant or the proud.”

The pope arrived in Algeria on Monday, the first visit to the country by a sitting pontiff.

On Wednesday he was flying to Cameroon, where separatists announced a three-day pause in deadly violence to allow Leo safe passage to a “peace meeting” Thursday.

From Cameroon, he will go on to Angola and Equatorial Guinea.

The Algerian leg was a religious homecoming.

Leo is a member of the Order of St. Augustine, which was founded on the teachings of the 5th-century saint who lived and studied in the Roman city of Hippo, now modern-day Annaba.

Leo took a pilgrimage to those ruins Tuesday, arriving during a rainstorm with sharpshooters covering the ancient flagstones and colonnades. He prayed in a tent overlooking its theater, market and basilica where Augustine preached. And he planted an olive tree and watched as white doves were released.

This was meant to be a deeply personal, “very special trip” for the pontiff, as he put it aboard his papal plane while en route to Algeria.

After being chosen at the Vatican Conclave last May, he declared himself a “son of St. Augustine” and he has visited this pilgrimage site twice before, while he was superior of the Augustinian order.

The saint “was a bridge of interreligious dialogue, so we must continue to build bridges and reconciliation for all people,” the pope said while in the air. He said the visit to Augustine’s hometown was supposed to be his first as pontiff, but other trips intervened.

Despite this deeply personal storyline, much of the focus this week has remained on Trump’s insults — and the pope declining to back down.

When Trump threatened that Iran’s “whole civilization will die tonight” if it did not agree to his peace terms, Leo labeled that “truly unacceptable.” The president then called the pope “WEAK on crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy,” before posting a picture appearing to show himself with Christ-like powers, which he later deleted.

The remarks and image caused uproar.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni issued a rare rebuke of her erstwhile ally, calling Trump’s remarks “unacceptable.” And Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was “disheartened.”

Asked for comment, the White House referred to public statements issued by Trump, who has refused to apologize.

“We believe strongly in law and order, and he seemed to have a problem with that, so there’s nothing to apologize for,” Trump said Monday.

A day later he posted, “Can someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed” thousands of protesters, “and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable.”

He also lashed out at Meloni. “I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” Trump told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Asked about Meloni calling his remarks unacceptable, Trump added, “She’s unacceptable.”

Meanwhile Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, said that the pope should “be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” and said his anti-war critique failed to account for just conflicts such as World War II.

While Trump has a storied record of launching insults at world leaders, Leo’s response marks a dramatic papal pivot.

For most of his first 11 months wearing the miter, he has been far more guarded than his free-talking predecessor, Pope Francis.

“Leo has understood that it’s quite risky for him to be seen to criticize Trump directly,” said Miles Pattenden, a historian of the Catholic Church who teaches at the University of Oxford. “But I think he felt that Trump crossed the line” with his comments on Iran. “I think Leo thought his credibility as a man of peace would be undermined if he didn’t comment on it,” Pattenden added.

Visiting an elderly care home in Annaba on Tuesday, Leo began with the Muslim greeting “as-salamu alaykum!” meaning “peace be upon you.” A day earlier he visited the Great Mosque of Algiers, and spoke about how St. Augustine valued “the search for truth” and recognizing “the dignity of every human being.”

At another address in the city he warned how “religious symbols and words can” become “blasphemous languages of violence and oppression,” denouncing these “absurd polarizations.”

Claudio Lavanga reported from Annaba, Algeria, and Alexander Smith reported from London.

The Associated Press contributed.

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