President Trump says the Pope is endangering Catholics by opposing the war with Iran

President Trump escalated his public feud with Pope Leo XIV, accusing the pontiff of endangering Catholics by opposing US military action against Iran. The President’s comments could complicate Secretary Marco Rubio’s visit to Rome later this week.

The State Department said on Monday that Rubio, a practicing Catholic who after this trip will have visited Italy or the Vatican at least three times in the past year, would travel to Rome and Vatican City on Thursday and Friday.

In an interview with Hugh Hewitt, Trump said the first American Pope is helping Iran and also making the world less safe with his comments opposing the deportations of illegal immigrants.

“The Pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in the interview on Monday. “And I don’t think that’s very good. I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people.”

President Trump also criticized Pope Leo on social media, saying the Pope was soft on crime and terrorism for comments about the administration’s immigration policies and deportations as well as the Iran war.

As these tensions persist, Marco Rubio is expected to meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who herself had a disagreement with President Trump over his comments on the Pontiff.

The political left is keen to voice their “support” for Pope Leo, despite openly and proudly defying the Catholic Church on two of its most important tenets; homosexuality and abortion. Will worldwide Catholic be fooled? We will see.