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Bishop Joseph Bambera speaks during Ash Wednesday mass at St. Peter\u2019s Cathedral in Scranton Wednesday, February 18, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\nStaff and Wire Reports<\/p>\n
U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV pushed back Monday on President Donald Trump\u2019s broadside against him over the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, telling reporters that the Vatican\u2019s appeals for peace and reconciliation are rooted in the Gospel, and that he doesn\u2019t fear the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,\u201d Leo told The Associated Press aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria. \u201cAnd I\u2019m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bishop Joseph Bambera speaks during Ash Wednesday mass at St. Peter\u2019s Cathedral in Scranton Wednesday, February 18, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n
The controversy caught the attention of Scranton Bishop Joseph C. Bambera, who said he is \u201cdeeply saddened\u201d by Trump\u2019s weekend attack on the pope.<\/p>\n
History\u2019s first U.S.-born pope stressed that he was not making a direct attack against Trump or anyone else with his general appeal for peace and criticisms of the \u201cdelusion of omnipotence\u201d that is fueling the Iran war and other conflicts around the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will not enter into debate. The things that I say are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone. The message of the Gospel is very clear: \u2018Blessed are the peacemakers,\u2019\u201d Leo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will not shy away from announcing the message of the Gospel and inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation, and looking for ways to avoid war any time that\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking to other reporters, he added: \u201cI\u2019m not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not politicians. We do not look at foreign policy from the same perspective that he may have,\u201d the pope said, adding, \u201cI will continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many people are suffering today, too many innocent people have been killed, and I believe someone must stand up and say that there is a better way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Trump delivered an extraordinary broadside against Leo on Sunday night, saying he didn\u2019t think the global leader of the Catholic Church is \u201cdoing a very good job\u201d and that \u201che\u2019s a very liberal person,\u201d while also suggesting the pontiff should \u201cstop catering to the Radical Left.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, Trump posted a picture suggesting he had saint-like powers akin to those of Jesus Christ. Wearing a biblical-style robe, Trump is seen laying hands on a bedridden man as light emanates from his fingers, while a soldier, a nurse, a praying woman and a bearded man in a baseball cap all look on admiringly. The sky above is filled with eagles, an American flag and vaporous images. The post was later deleted.<\/p>\n
Bishop Bambera, in an emailed statement, said he was \u201cdeeply saddened to read comments posted by the President about the Holy Father, and likewise dismayed when seeing an AI-generated image, also posted by the President but then later deleted, that seemingly portrays him in the place of Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bambera also said he is praying for the president.<\/p>\n
Roman Catholics account for a sizable part of Northeast Pennsylvania\u2019s population. Bambera is the spiritual leader of over 290,500 Catholics in more than 100 churches in Bradford, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Monroe, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wayne and Wyoming counties.<\/p>\n
Trump on Sunday, flying back to Washington from Florida, used a lengthy social media post to sharply criticize Leo, then kept it up after deplaning, in comments on the tarmac to reporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not a fan of Pope Leo,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s comments came after Leo suggested over the weekend that a \u201cdelusion of omnipotence\u201d is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran. While it\u2019s not unusual for popes and presidents to be at cross purposes, it\u2019s exceedingly rare for the pope to directly criticize a U.S. leader \u2014 and Trump\u2019s stinging response is equally uncommon, if not more so.<\/p>\n
\u201cPope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,\u201d the president wrote in his post, adding, \u201cI don\u2019t want a Pope who thinks it\u2019s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Italian politicians across the spectrum showed their solidarity with Leo. Premier Giorgia Meloni sent a message of support for his peace mission while the leader of the main opposition party, Elly Schlein, was more direct, calling Trump\u2019s attacks \u201cextremely serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump repeated that sentiment in comments to reporters, saying, \u201cWe don\u2019t like a pope who says it\u2019s OK to have a nuclear weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leo\u2019s opposition to war irked Trump<\/p>\n
All of that came after Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica on Saturday, the same day the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan during a fragile ceasefire, with Vice President JD Vance leading the U.S. delegation. Vance is Catholic and recently released a book about his faith.<\/p>\n
During his evening prayer service, the pope didn\u2019t mention the United States or Trump by name, but his tone and message appeared directed at Trump and U.S. officials, who have boasted of U.S. military superiority and justified the war in religious terms.<\/p>\n
Leo, who is on an 11-day trip to Africa starting Monday \u2014 has previously said that God \u201cdoes not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.\u201d He\u2019s also referenced an Old Testament passage from Isaiah, saying that \u201ceven though you make many prayers, I will not listen \u2014 your hands are full of blood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before the ceasefire, when Trump warned of mass strikes against Iranian power plants and other infrastructure and that \u201can entire civilization will die tonight,\u201d Leo described such sentiments as \u201ctruly unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his social media post on Sunday night, however, Trump went far beyond the war in Iran in criticizing Leo.<\/p>\n
The president wrote, \u201cI don\u2019t want a Pope who thinks it\u2019s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States.\u201d That was a reference to the Trump administration having ousted Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro in January.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I\u2019m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do,\u201d Trump added, referencing his 2024 election victory.<\/p>\n
He also suggested in the post that Leo got his position only \u201cbecause he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I wasn\u2019t in the White House, Leo wouldn\u2019t be in the Vatican,\u201d Trump wrote, adding, \u201cLeo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It\u2019s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it\u2019s hurting the Catholic Church!\u201d<\/p>\n
In his subsequent comments to reporters, Trump remained highly critical, saying of Leo, \u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s doing a very good job. He likes crime I guess\u201d and adding, \u201cHe\u2019s a very liberal person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bishops say the pope is not a politician<\/p>\n
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement saying he was \u201cdisheartened\u201d by Trump\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n
\u201cPope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls,\u201d Coakley said.<\/p>\n
The Italian Bishops\u2019 Conference expressed regret over Trump\u2019s words, and underlined that the pope \u201cis not a political counterpart, but the successor of Peter, called to serve the Gospel, truth and peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the 2024 election, Trump won 55% of Catholic voters, according to AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate. But Trump\u2019s administration also has close ties to conservative evangelical Protestant leaders and has claimed heavenly endorsement for the war on Iran.<\/p>\n
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Americans to pray for victory \u201cin the name of Jesus Christ.\u201d And, when Trump was asked whether he thought God approved of the war, he said, \u201cI do, because God is good \u2014 because God is good and God wants to see people taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Staff Writer Melissa Janoski and Associated Press writers Will Weissert, Josh Boak and Nicole Winfield contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Staff and Wire Reports U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV pushed back Monday on President Donald Trump\u2019s broadside against him…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,803,139,28,178,180,179],"class_list":["post-165083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-luzerne-county","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}