Pope says he’s not looking to debate with President Trump

The Pontiff said the remarks, delivered in an address in Cameroon days after critical comments about his pontificate by the US president, had been written a fortnight earlier – “well before the President ever commented on myself”.

“And yet as it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate, again, the President, which is not in my interest at all,” he told reporters aboard a flight to Angola on April 18.

The Pope said a “certain narrative that has not been accurate” had developed, citing “the political situation created” by Mr Trump’s comments.

During an address in Cameroon on April 18, Pope Leo, without mentioning Mr Trump by name, said the “world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants”.

“The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is often not enough to rebuild,” he said. “They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing, on devastation. Yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found.

“Jesus told us, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ But woe to those who manipulate religion in the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,” he continued.

Speaking with reporters after the Pope delivered his address, Mr Trump said he has “nothing against” the first American Pope and added “I have a right to disagree” with the Pontiff, ABC News reported.

Mr Trump also claimed that Pope Leo said that Iran can have a nuclear weapon. The Pontiff has never said this.

Asked if he would meet with the Pope to even out their differences, Mr Trump said: “I don’t think it’s necessary.”

On April 18, Pope Leo visited Bamenda, a city in Cameroon’s troubled northwest region that is at the centre of a decade-long conflict known as the “Anglophone Crisis”.

Since 2016, rebel groups belonging to Cameroon’s English-speaking minority have been fighting government forces in the region, in an attempt to create a separate state in the northwest and southwest of the country.

Upon arriving in Bamenda, the Pope held a peace meeting with local community leaders, including representatives of various religious denominations as well as local traditional rulership. It was in speaking with those gathered that he made the “tyrants” reference.

In his homily at a Mass at Bamenda airport, the Pope admitted that the local situation is one that might give rise to “resignation and helplessness”.

Cameroon’s hope for a peaceful future, he said, has been “continually disappointed” by problems including corruption, poverty and emigration.

However, the Pope stressed, “the Word of the Lord opens up new possibilities . . . It is capable of stirring our hearts, of challenging the normal course of events.”

The time for change, he said, has come, “Today and not tomorrow, now and not in the future”.

FULL STORY

Pope says ‘tyrants’ speech was not aimed at Trump (By Maia Davies/BBC)

Trump defends his criticism of Pope Leo: ‘I have a right to disagree’ (ABC News)

Day Four in Africa: Pope Leo addresses Cameroon’s ‘Anglophone crisis’ (Vatican News)

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