by Junno Arocho Esteves
OSV News
(OSV News) — Italian bishops reiterated their support for Pope Leo XIV in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s online tirade against the pontiff.
In a statement published April 13, the Italian bishops’ conference expressed “regret for the words addressed to him” by Trump and backed the statement released by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“Echoing the words of the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, we recall that the Pope is not a political counterpart, but the Successor of Peter, called to serve the Gospel, the truth, and peace.”
“In a time marked by conflicts and international tensions, his voice represents a demanding call to the dignity of the person, to dialogue, and to responsibility. The Churches in Italy renew to the Holy Father their closeness, affection, and prayers, expressing the hope that all will show respect for his person and for his ministry,” the bishops said.
Trump took to his Truth Social platform April 12 to lash out at the pope and his opposition to the war in Iran, framing it as support for the country’s alleged nuclear ambitions, among other things.
“I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History,” the president wrote, adding that the pope is “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy,” as tensions escalate in the Middle East.
Echoing the Italian bishops’ words, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, released a statement April 13 expressing his solidarity and “full support for our Bishop, Pope Leo XIV, in the face of disconcerting attacks on his teaching of peace.”
“The Gospel of the Beatitudes is the essence of the Church’s mission; no one and nothing, deluded by the illusory reverberation of arrogance, can hinder this proclamation,” the cardinal said.
Italian politicians across the political spectrum, in a rare sign of agreement, rallied behind Pope Leo in the wake of Trump’s criticism.
“Rome stands with Pope Leo,” wrote Rome’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri. “The attacks by Donald Trump on his high spiritual teaching and his commitment to peace are unacceptable and wound sensitivities and consciences. The city of Rome, uniquely bound to its Bishop, firmly reaffirms the values of respect, dialogue, and peace.”
Before the pope’s departure for Algeria, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni released a statement expressing her well-wishes for his apostolic journey.
Although she did not refer directly to Trump’s words, Meloni said she hoped the pope’s ministry would “help resolve conflicts and restore peace, both within and between nations” and “provide support and comfort to the Christian communities he will have the opportunity to meet during his journey.”
However, after facing backlash for not criticizing Trump, the Italian prime minister released a second statement in the evening, saying she “thought the meaning of my statement this morning was clear.”
“I find President Trump’s words regarding the Holy Father to be unacceptable,” she said. “The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal that he should call for peace and condemn all forms of war.”
Two of Meloni’s predecessors took to X to denounce the U.S. president.
“Defending Pope Leo XIV is today a duty not only for Catholics but also — and above all — for secular people,” wrote former prime minister Matteo Renzi. “It has been centuries since such blatant aggression toward the Roman Pontiff has been seen. He is, in fact, a ‘builder of bridges,’ unlike Donald Trump, a destroyer of relationships and of civilization.”
“The only advantage: Trumps come and go, popes remain. But is there none among the many Italians who waved the MAGA cap who has the courage to say: ‘The White House’s attack on the Vatican is simply shameful’?”
Former Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte applauded Pope Leo’s response to Trump’s words aboard the papal flight to Algeria.
Asked by journalists about the controversial statements, the pope said he had “no fear neither of the Trump administration nor speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the Church is here to do.”
“The words of Pope Leo XIV are the best response to the untenable and disgraceful attacks coming from Donald Trump,” Conte wrote, expressing his “solidarity with the pontiff.”
However, Conte also criticized Meloni for remaining silent. “Perhaps here too, she ‘neither condemns nor supports,’ as with the attacks in Iran that are causing death, destruction, and enormous economic damage for all of us,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who has expressed support for Trump in the past, distanced himself from the U.S. president and said attacking the pope “does not seem like an intelligent or useful thing to do.”
“Pope Leo XIV is a spiritual guide for billions of Catholics,” Salvini said in a statement to Italian television channel Telelombardia. “But beyond that, if there is one person who is working for peace, it is Pope Leo.”
