In a social media post, Trump said the pope should “stop catering to the Radical Left,” adding that Leo was “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy.” Speaking to reporters later at Joint Base Andrews after arriving on Air Force One, Trump reiterated his criticism, saying, “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”

The remarks followed comments by Pope Leo over the weekend condemning what he described as the “delusion of omnipotence” driving the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, and calling on political leaders to pursue negotiations to end the conflict.

The pope delivered his message during an evening prayer service at St. Peter’s Basilica, coinciding with the start of direct talks between the United States and Iran in Pakistan under a fragile ceasefire arrangement.

While Leo did not explicitly mention Trump or the United States, his remarks were widely interpreted as directed at U.S. leadership, which has defended military actions and emphasized American strategic strength in the region.

The exchange marks a rare public dispute between a U.S. president and a sitting pope, and underscores broader divisions over foreign policy and the role of military force in resolving international conflicts.

The pope, the first from the United States, is scheduled to visit Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, traveling nearly 18,000 km (11,185 miles) across 11 cities and towns on 18 flights in one of the most complex papal itineraries in decades.

Cardinal Michael Czerny said the trip was intended “to help turn the world’s attention to Africa,” underscoring the Vatican’s focus on a region where Catholic populations are expanding rapidly.

Leo, 70, has made limited overseas visits since his election last May, including trips to Turkiye and Lebanon late last year, and Monaco in March. The current tour marks his most extensive diplomatic and pastoral journey to date.

The visit will include a stop in Algeria, an overwhelmingly Muslim country with fewer than 10,000 Catholics among a population of around 48 million, marking the first time a sitting pope has visited the country.

Leo is expected to address political leaders there and visit the Great Mosque of Algiers, only his second visit to a mosque as pope.Across the four countries, Leo is scheduled to deliver 25 speeches addressing a range of issues including resource exploitation, interfaith dialogue and political governance, according to Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni.

Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea have long-serving leaders who have faced allegations of human rights abuses, which they deny.The largest gathering of the tour is expected in Cameroon’s coastal city of Douala, where Vatican officials estimate around 600,000 people could attend a papal Mass on Friday.

The trip is the 24th papal visit to Africa since the late 1960s and reflects the continent’s growing significance within the global Catholic Church, with more than 20 percent of adherents now based there.

Vatican officials said the trip is intended to engage with the Islamic world and address broader challenges of coexistence amid global tensions.The Algeria leg will be the first stop in a wider travel that includes Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, covering approximately 18,000 kilometers between April 13 and 23.

During his visit to Algiers, Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to meet President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and address government officials and diplomats. He will also visit the Great Mosque of Algiers and meet members of the Catholic community, while holding private prayers for clergy killed during Algeria’s civil war in the 1990s.

A key moment of the trip will come in Annaba, historically associated with Saint Augustine, whose legacy has influenced the pope’s spiritual outlook. Leo, formerly Robert Francis Prevost and a member of the Augustinian order, has often described himself as a “son” of Augustine.

The visit comes as rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, EuroMed Rights and MENA Rights Group, have urged the Vatican to address concerns over restrictions on religious minorities in Algeria.

Algerian officials and local media have highlighted the symbolic significance of the visit, describing it as a reflection of the country’s stability and its role in fostering dialogue on the global stage.

The trip unfolds against the backdrop of ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with the Vatican emphasizing a message centered on interfaith understanding and peaceful coexistence.

The 10-day visit will take Leo nearly 18,000 km across 11 cities in Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, involving 18 flights in what Vatican officials described as a demanding itinerary.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, a senior Vatican official, said the trip was intended “to help turn the world’s attention to Africa,” emphasizing the pope’s priority to ensure the continent is not overlooked amid global crises.

Leo, the first U.S.-born pope and successor to Pope Francis, has made limited foreign visits since his election last May, including trips to Turkey and Lebanon late last year, and Monaco in March.

Africa accounts for more than 20% of the world’s Catholics, according to Vatican data, and is the fastest-growing region for the Church. In several of the countries on Leo’s itinerary, Catholics make up a majority of the population, while Algeria remains predominantly Muslim with a small Catholic minority.

During the visit, Leo is expected to promote interfaith dialogue, including a visit to the Great Mosque of Algiers, and travel to Annaba to see the ancient ruins of Hippo, associated with St. Augustine of Hippo, a central figure for the Augustinian order to which the pope belongs.

In Cameroon, Leo is scheduled to hold a peace meeting in Bamenda, a region affected by conflict between government forces and separatist groups since 2017.

The pope will also visit Bata, where he is expected to pray at the site of a 2021 explosion at a military barracks that killed more than 100 people.

Church officials and analysts say the tour reflects the Vatican’s strategic and pastoral focus on Africa, highlighting both the continent’s challenges and its role as a center of growth and vitality within global Catholicism.

In a letter seen by Reuters, Rabbi Rasson Arousi, chair of the Commission of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel for Dialogue with the Holy See, said the comments appeared to suggest Jewish law was obsolete.

Vatican authorities said they were studying the letter and were considering a response.

Rabbi Arousi wrote a day after the pope spoke about the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, during a general audience on Aug. 11.

The Torah contains hundreds of commandments, or mitzvot, for Jews to follow in their everyday lives. The measure of adherence to the wide array of guidelines differs between Orthodox Jews and Reform Jews.

At the audience, the pope, who was reflecting on what St. Paul said about the Torah in the New Testament, said: “The law (Torah) however does not give life.

“It does not offer the fulfilment of the promise because it is not capable of being able to fulfil it … Those who seek life need to look to the promise and to its fulfilment in Christ.”

Rabbi Arousi sent the letter on behalf of the Chief Rabbinate – the supreme rabbinic authority for Judaism in Israel – to Cardinal Kurt Koch, whose Vatican department includes a commission for religious relations with Jews.

“In his homily, the pope presents the Christian faith as not just superseding the Torah; but asserts that the latter no longer gives life, implying that Jewish religious practice in the present era is rendered obsolete,” Arousi said in the letter.

“This is in effect part and parcel of the ‘teaching of contempt’ towards Jews and Judaism that we had thought had been fully repudiated by the Church,” he said.

Improved Relations

Relations between Catholics and Jews were revolutionised in 1965, when the Second Vatican Council repudiated the concept of collective Jewish guilt for the death of Jesus and began decades of inter-religious dialogue. Francis and his two predecessors visited synagogues.

Two leading Catholic scholars of religious relations with Jews agreed that the pope’s remarks could be seen as a troublesome setback and needed clarification.

“To say that this fundamental tenet of Judaism does not give life is to denigrate the basic religious outlook of Jews and Judaism. It could have been written before the Council,” said Father John Pawlikowski, former director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies Program at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

“I think it’s a problem for Jewish ears, especially because the pope’s remarks were addressed to a Catholic audience,” said Professor Philip Cunningham, director of the Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

“It could be understood as devaluing Jewish observance of the Torah today,” Cunningham said.

Arousi and Pawlikowski said it was possible that a least part of the pope’s teaching homily, known as a catechesis, was written by aides and that the phrase was not properly vetted.

Koch’s office said on Wednesday he had received the letter, was “considering it seriously and reflecting on a response”.

Francis has had a very good relationship with Jews. While still archbishop in native Buenos Aires, he co-wrote a book with one of the city’s rabbis, Abraham Skorka, and has maintained a lasting friendship with him.

In his letter to Cardinal Koch, Arousi asked him to “convey our distress to Pope Francis” and asked for a clarification from the pope to “ensure that any derogatory conclusions drawn from this homily are clearly repudiated”.