There are sparks between the USA and the Vatican again. “This shows Trump's complex towards the pope”

Paulina Guzik: I will turn this question around, answering with the words of Pope Leo, who said on board the plane to Algiers that “the message of the Church is the message of the Gospel: blessed are those who make peace.”

The Pope clearly does not want to enter into a debate with Trump.

But he says he will continue to speak out loudly against the war, try to promote peace, multilateral dialogue between states – in short, he speaks like a leader for whom the most important thing is not his own personality, but the greater social good. This is probably the best answer that can be given today to what Donald Trump is doing, who uses the language of force in his criticism of the Pope. The Pope answers him in the language of the Gospel.

This is probably the best answer that can be given today to what Donald Trump is doing, who uses the language of force in his criticism of the Pope. The Pope answers him in the language of the Gospel.

Or maybe this is Trump's way of directly declaring open war on the Vatican?

I think this situation shows a certain complex of Donald Trump towards Pope Leo.

We probably all remember the meme that the US president published during the conclave – an image of himself in papal robes, suggesting that he would become the new leader of the Church. Now he has done something similar, publishing a graphic in which he presents himself in a messianic way as a healer, like Jesus.

Only when the president of the most powerful country in the world behaves like this does this hysteria become a problem for the entire world. How are these statements received in the USA?

American Catholics are very clearly opposed to what their president is doing. It is clear that many of them are downright shocked and outraged. The president of the American Episcopal Conference immediately issued a statement – and it was probably the fastest statement issued by the Episcopate in the world.

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Archbishop Paul S. Coakley reminded that Pope Leo is not Trump's rival, “he is the vicar of Christ who speaks in the name of the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”

But will this reach Trump's electorate?

I don't think his voters will allow themselves to be treated this way either. I suppose that this latest attack on the Pope has crossed another, seemingly insurmountable boundary, and even Trump's current supporters are not particularly friendly towards such rhetoric.

At the level of the American Episcopal Conference, some bishops are already entering an open clash with the American government – yesterday, three American cardinals gave an interview on the mainstream CBS television, criticizing not only the war, but also the president's flagship actions, such as ICE.

Trump attacks the Pope. “Leon will not be afraid of these insurmountable wars”

“I am not afraid of the Trump administration,” Pope Leo XIV responded to this attack today.

The Pope's entire statement was calm and balanced. The Pope does not go into details and skillfully shows that he is above the level of debate, which in foreign policy can rather be perceived as the level of hysteria in a sandbox.

He also made it clear that he would not be afraid of any insurrectionary wars that Donald Trump was preparing for him. He literally said it: “I am not afraid” of either the American administration or the decisive proclamation of the Gospel.

It can be assumed that this was not the answer expected by the US president, who provokes, hoping that his adversary will get scared and withdraw.

He would have to be extremely naive to hope that the Pope would give up his line of criticizing the war activities. It is his role to choose the path of peace, reconciliation and call for an immediate ceasefire – because this is the gospel he has to preach throughout the world.

Let us remind you that Leon is not innovative at all. It does exactly the same as its predecessors. Recently he even quoted John Paul II, who also appealed in the context of events in the Middle East: “No more war!” and led a three-month international campaign to prevent war in Iraq. His voice was actually prophetic when he predicted that what would follow would not be democracy, but chaos in the Middle East.

This is not the first tension between the US and the Vatican in recent weeks.

I think that there are more complexes than rationality in the actions of the US president. Let us note that the Holy Father is flying to Africa for the longest trip of his pontificate. Did Donald Trump decide at this moment to divert the world's attention from this event and focus it on himself? This is what it looks like.

Playing very much in his: the world cannot admire two American leaders.

Therefore, I believe that these childish taunts were mainly intended to divert attention from the fundamental problem of the American administration – the disastrous war. Of course, I will now follow with the greatest interest the reactions of the president's closest associates: Marco Rubio and JD Vance, Catholics in the US administration.

I think that the comment of the former Polish ambassador to the US, Marek Magierowski, is very telling, when he wrote ironically that Rubio and Vance will probably resign now.

Trump seriously attacks the Pope. “He has already received a wave of criticism”

Or maybe Trump counted on the fact that the MAGA religion already has more followers in the US than Catholicism?

It must be remembered that American Catholics are very often conservatives who grew up on the ideas of Ronald Reagan, his presidential style and his relationship with the Pope. I think that these people will absolutely not allow themselves to be treated this way by the current president.

And looking more broadly at American Catholics, Father James Martin, a Jesuit, wrote that Trump's words are unchristian and asked whether there is no bottom to this moral misery?

Father James Martin is a liberal priest, and MAGA Catholics can agree with Trump, because he is always right.

MAGA Catholics have long been against the pope, not only Leo, but they have also been strong critics of Francis. One of the leaders of this trend was Trump's close associate Steve Bannon, known from the Epstein files, who announced directly: “We will destroy Pope Francis.”

But Bishop Robert Barron — often sympathetic to the current administration — commented that the president's tweet and his words were completely “inappropriate and disrespectful. They make no contribution to a constructive conversation,” he noted.

Do you expect that the US president will come to his senses?

I think that this coming to sense will be the war in Iran. These voices can be heard even in the very center of MAGA. For example, Trump's great ally, journalist Tucker Carlson, leaves no stone unturned on Donald Trump, saying that he disagrees with him, that attacking Iran is not in the interest of the United States, that this money should be spent on Americans, not on war.

In fact, there are more and more critics of his recent decisions among Trump himself.

In this context, his attack on the pope can be read as an attempt to divert attention and media narrative from his failures in the Middle East.

This prolonged conflict is a really big problem for the US and the president is looking for a way to get out of it. The Pope who repeats: “stop! The time has come for peace! Sit at the tables of dialogue and mediation, not at the tables where armaments are planned and decisions about death are made!” — it simply does not fit this project of the American administration. Because the Gospel never fits war.