JD Vance tells Vatican to stay out of US politics amid Trump–Pope row

US Vice President JD Vance asked the Vatican connected Monday to "stick to matters of morality" amid an escalating nationalist clash betwixt President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV implicit the Iran war."I surely deliberation that successful immoderate cases, it would beryllium champion for the Vatican to instrumentality to matters of morality... and fto the President United States instrumentality to dictating American nationalist policy," Vance said portion speaking to Fox News.The vice president's remarks came arsenic Trump and the US-born pontiff traded progressively crisp barbs implicit the Iran conflict, with the president refusing to apologise for calling Pope Leo "weak connected crime" and "terrible for overseas policy."Vance, a Catholic who precocious released a publication astir his faith, besides defended Trump's now-deleted societal media station depicting himself arsenic a saint-like healer with airy radiating from his fingers."The President was posting a joke," Vance said of the image, which drew wide disapproval including from immoderate of Trump's ain evangelical supporters. "It's a bully thing" that Trump "likes to premix it up connected societal media" and is "not filtered."

"Of course, helium took it down due to the fact that helium recognised a batch of radical weren't knowing his humour," Vance added.The image, which showed Trump successful biblical robes laying hands connected a sick man, with eagles, American flags, and angelic figures successful the sky. It was deleted Monday greeting aft a planetary backlash.

Pope hits back

Speaking to The Associated Press aboard the papal level en way to Algeria, Pope Leo pushed backmost connected Trump's broadside, saying the Vatican's appeals for bid are rooted successful the Gospel."I'm not acrophobic of the Trump medication oregon of speaking retired loudly astir the connection of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for," Leo said."I volition proceed to talk retired powerfully against war, seeking to beforehand peace, promoting dialog and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems," helium added.The back-and-forth betwixt the world's 2 astir influential Americans deepened arsenic the US warfare successful Iran stretched into its seventh week. The pope had criticized what helium described arsenic a "delusion of omnipotence" driving planetary conflict, portion Trump threatened wide strikes against Iranian infrastructure.While it's not antithetic for popes and presidents to beryllium astatine transverse purposes, it's exceedingly uncommon for the pope to straight knock a US leader, and Trump's stinging effect is arsenic uncommon.