Trump sparked a row with the Roman Catholic Church when he called Pope Leo out for his stance on the Iran war. Barron, while expressing gratitude for Trump\u2019s defense of religious liberty, responded by politely suggesting that the president should apologize to the Pope<\/a> for these comments.<\/p>\n Trump was asked by a reporter whether he planned on making such an apology.<\/p>\n “No I don\u2019t, because Pope Leo said things that were wrong. he was very much against what I\u2019m doing with regard to Iran<\/a>, and you cannot have a nuclear Iran,” Trump replied. “Pope Leo would not be happy with the end result. You have hundreds of millions of people dead. And it\u2019s not going to happen. So again, I think he\u2019s very weak on crime and other things.”<\/p>\n POPE WARNS ESCALATING IRAN CONFLICT COULD TIP MIDDLE EAST INTO \u2018IRREPARABLE ABYSS\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Trump congratulates Pope Leo XVI after he was named first American pontiff. 5\/8\/25 (Getty Images)<\/p>\n Trump went on to recall that he had praised the Pope\u2019s brother, saying he likes him “better than I like the Pope.”<\/p>\n “You have to have law and order in our country. And that\u2019s what we have now,” Trump said. “We have the lowest crime numbers we\u2019ve had in a long time, despite the fact that many criminals were allowed into our country. But we\u2019ve gotten a lot of them out. We\u2019ve done a great job on crime. So we have the lowest murder rate in 125 years, since 1900, the lowest murder rate.”<\/p>\n “So we believe strongly in law and order,” Trump concluded. “And he seemed to have a problem with that. So there\u2019s nothing to apologize for. He\u2019s wrong. And the other thing is he didn\u2019t like what we\u2019re doing with respect to Iran. But Iran is a \u2014 wants to be a nuclear nation. So they can exterminate the world. Not gonna happen.”<\/p>\n “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump had written previously on Truth Social. “He talks about \u2018fear\u2019 of the Trump Administration, but doesn\u2019t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart.”<\/p>\n Trump went on to make numerous other controversial statements in the post, such as declaring that he prefers Louis Prevost, Pope Leo XIV<\/a>‘s brother,\u00a0more than the Pope himself, saying “”He gets it, and Leo doesn\u2019t! I don\u2019t want a Pope who thinks it\u2019s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”<\/p>\n VATICAN DECLINES TO JOIN TRUMP\u2019S GAZA \u2018BOARD OF PEACE,\u2019 CALLS FOR UN LEADERSHIP<\/a><\/p>\n Split of Pope Leo and Trump. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n “The statements made by President Trump on Truth Social regarding the Pope were entirely inappropriate and disrespectful,” Barron responded in an X post. “They don\u2019t contribute at all to a constructive conversation. It is the Pope\u2019s prerogative to articulate Catholic doctrine and the principles that govern the moral life. In regard to the concrete application of those principles, people of good will can and do disagree.”<\/p>\n “I would warmly recommend that serious Catholics within the Trump administration \u2014 Secretary Rubio, Vice President Vance, Ambassador Brian Burch, and others \u2014 might meet with Vatican officials so that a real dialogue can take place,” he continued. “This is far preferable to the statements on social media.”<\/p>\n “I am very grateful for the many ways that the Trump administration has reached out to Catholics and other people of faith,” Barron added. “It has been a high honor to serve on the\u00a0Religious Liberty Commission<\/a>. No President in my lifetime has shown a greater dedication to defending our first liberty. All that said, I think the President owes the Pope an apology.”<\/p>\n \u00a0CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE<\/a><\/p>\n Photo: Bishop Robert Barron (L), accompanied by U.S. President Donald Trump, and other religious leaders, speaks during a National Day of Prayer event in the Rose Garden at the White House on May 1, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The National Day of Prayer is a congressionally recognized observance that calls on people of all faiths to participate in a day of prayer and reflection. (Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Donald](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/trump-pope-leo-2.jpg\")
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