Cardinal Pietro Parolin has described U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent verbal attacks on Pope Leo as “strange,” amid growing tensions between the White House and the Vatican over the conflict with Iran and U.S. immigration policy.
Speaking on Wednesday, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin reacted to Trump’s repeated criticism of the pontiff by saying: “For me it seems a bit strange, to say the least.”
The remarks come one day before Pope Leo is scheduled to receive U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican. The meeting, requested by the White House according to Cardinal Parolin, will mark the first known encounter between the pope and a senior Trump administration official in nearly a year.
Relations between the Vatican and Washington have deteriorated in recent weeks after Pope Leo openly criticized military strikes against Iran and condemned the anti-immigration policies promoted by the U.S. administration. Trump responded with an unprecedented series of attacks against the pontiff, sparking backlash among American Christians across the political spectrum.
On Monday, Trump claimed that Pope Leo appeared unconcerned about the possibility of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. The U.S. president also accused the pope of “endangering a lot of Catholics” by opposing the war.
The Vatican, however, strongly rejected Trump’s interpretation of the pope’s statements. Pope Leo emphasized that his message has consistently been one of peace and denied ever suggesting that Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons would be acceptable.
Cardinal Parolin said the pope would listen carefully to Rubio during Thursday’s talks and suggested that recent developments in the Middle East would likely dominate the discussion.
Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See expressed hope that the meeting between the pope and America’s top diplomat would be frank, signaling that both sides are expected to address their differences directly.
Source: ANA-MPA, translated by: Konstantinos Menyktas