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Pope Leo XIV said Saturday that remarks he made this week in which he said the “world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants” were not directed at President Donald Trump, a report said.
The pope, speaking onboard a flight to Angola during his 10-day Africa tour, said reporting about his comments “has not been accurate in all its aspects” and his speech “was prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting,” according to Reuters.
The news outlet cited the pope as saying his comments were not aimed at Trump.
“As it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate the president, which is not in my interest at all,” the pope reportedly said.
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Pope Leo XIV answers journalists’ questions during his flight from Yaounde, Cameroon, to Luanda, Angola, on Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Luca Zennaro/Pool Photo via AP)
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Trump last Sunday accused Pope Leo XIV of being “terrible” on foreign policy as the pontiff has criticized the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
“He talks about ‘fear’ of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” he continued.
POPE LEO SLAMS THOSE WHO ‘MANIPULATE RELIGION’ FOR MILITARY OR POLITICAL GAIN, TRUMP RESPONDS
A split image shows Pope Leo XIV, left, and President Donald Trump, right, amid a public dispute over immigration policy and the conflict involving Iran. (Simone Risoluti – Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images; Salwan Georges/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
During a speech in Cameroon on Thursday, the pope said, “We must make a decisive change of course — a true conversion — that will lead us in the opposite direction, onto a sustainable path rich in human fraternity.”
“The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters!” he added.
Pope Leo XIV speaks as he meets with the community of Bamenda at Saint Joseph’s Cathedral in Bamenda, on the fourth day of an 11-day apostolic journey to Africa, on April 16, 2026. (Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP via Getty Images)
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“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,” the pope also said.
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.