This past Monday, Pope Leo XIV responded to President Donald Trump’s criticism of him as being “terrible” on foreign policy. Pope Leo made two statements, at both of which I take umbrage. First, he recited the Biblical passage “blessed are the peacemakers.” Second, he said, “I have no fear of the Trump administration.”
Let me preface by stating that, as a practicing Catholic, I was hoping for a return to some sort of normalcy after the flaming car wreck that was the pontificate of Francis. So I take no joy in reflecting that, so far, we seem to have been shafted with a pope proving himself indistinguishable from Francis, other than this new one likes baseball.
Let’s start with his quote of “blessed are the peacemakers,” which he no doubt meant as a dig at Trump for “starting” the Iran War. But Trump didn’t start this war any more than Poland started the Second World War. Furthermore, Trump is responsible for forging more permanent peace deals and ending wars than anything either the papacy, Europe, or the UN has done of late.
Here is a list of the peace agreements that President Trump forged:
- In May 2025, Trump brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan that was threatening to go nuclear.
- In June 2025, Trump brokered a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- In July 2025, Trump brokered a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia that had nearly erupted into a full-scale war.
- In August 2025, Trump brokered a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
- Most significantly, in 2020, Trump brokered the Abraham Accords, which finally brought peace between Israel and Bahrain, the U.A.E., Morocco, and Sudan. In 2025, Kazakhstan announced its intention to officially join the Accords as well. The big prize remains Saudi Arabia, which Trump was within a breath of winning over until the move was intentionally scuttled by Joe Biden. If Trump can get the Saudis on board, the Abraham Accords will be the most significant peace deal since the Treaty of Westphalia.
Now, here is a list of the peace agreements that Pope Leo forged:
So, yes, Pope Leo. Blessed are the peacemakers. If you have enough humility to concede that you’re not one of them.
Moving on, we have the pope’s claim that he has “no fear of the Trump administration.” Okay, listen: I’m trying as hard as I can to be respectful to the pontiff, but seriously? What is this supposed to be, your Ralph-Wiggum-standing-up-to-Nelson-Muntz hero moment?
Trump didn’t threaten you. He criticized your leadership. But rather than respond to the actual criticism that was levied, you tried to paint yourself as David with his sling against the mean-tweeting Goliath.
A pope stating he has “no fear” of a democratically elected American president who has given zero indication that he means to inflict any harm whatsoever on said pope is not an indication of bravery. It’s an attempt to change the conversation.
And what were Trump’s tweets leaning toward? Towards the fact that Pope Leo IS afraid. Not of Trump, but of giving voice to the truly voiceless. Defending the culture of human rights, found almost exclusively in the West, is what the Judeo-Christian ethic nurtured and developed for two millennia.
Leo is afraid to advocate for forceful change, not just empty statements, for the Christians being massacred in Nigeria and Syria. Leo is afraid to defend Europe, the cradle of Christendom, against the leftist/Islamist forces actively working toward its destruction. Leo is afraid to speak out against Western governments moving full tilt towards the suppression of free speech. Leo is afraid to draw attention to the specter of “refugees” raping British girls en masse and plowing trucks through Christmas markets. Leo is afraid to call out the United Nations and other international bodies for openly promoting bloody dictatorships and their terrorist proxies to positions of power.
“Too many people are suffering in the world today,” Leo said. “Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way.” Agreed, Pope Leo, but what you’re doing is not “standing up.” You’re painting with broad, and intentionally vague, strokes.
Both Pope Leo and Pope Francis, before him, routinely make universal calls for peace, as if both sides to a conflict are equally guilty. As if those who launched the Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis are equally to blame for the Second World War. As if the 12-year-old Dundee girl who used an axe to defend herself and her sister from a would-be rapist needs to do her part to bring down the temperature. As if Iran’s neighbors have been threatening them with nuclear war and regional hegemony for the last half-century, while massacring tens of thousands of its own people, not vice versa.
Pope Leo, your criticism is misplaced. Take a step back, look at the world around you, and ask yourself: What are your goals? Are you merely looking to help usher through a managed decline of the West and the Christendom that built it? Or are you looking to step up to the plate and defend everything you know that is good and holy? Because if your goal is the latter, you should have eyes to see that Trump is on your side and, at this point, practically doing your job for you.
But if it’s more important to you to show Macron and Starmer how tough you can “stand up” to a man who has no intention of hurting you, by all means, keep doing what you’re doing. You are actively building your legacy, and this is what you will be remembered for. You have a chance to help right the ship, and you’re blowing it.
The millions of oppressed Nigerians, Cubans, Venezuelans, and Iranians will remember your silence in the face of their suffering more than they’ll remember Trump’s mean tweets. Trump is doing something to end their suffering. You are enabling it.
The papacy of today would be utterly unrecognizable in the times of Gregory VII, of Urban II, or even of John Paul II. The Vatican needs strength and leadership, not indecision and tepidity. To those of us who were hoping Leo would pick up the reins that Francis sneered at and refused to touch, it looks like we have longer to wait.
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