Pope Leo XIV Intensifies Criticism of Trump’s Iran War and U.S. Policies Without Naming President
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Pope Leo XIV used his Palm Sunday remarks to sharply denounce war and those who claim God or national policy justifies it, repeatedly critiquing U.S. military and immigration policies in recent months without naming President Trump directly and endorsing U.S. bishops’ concerns about mass‑deportation and due process. His comments came amid wider Middle East and diplomatic tensions — including Israeli police blocking Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa from entering Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Palm Sunday and international condemnation — and the Vatican has signaled a distancing from Trump by declining a 2026 U.S. visit in favor of marking America’s 250th anniversary in Lampedusa.