Pope Leo says world 'being ravaged by handful of tyrants' after Trump attacks [View all]

Source: The Independent

Thursday 16 April 2026 13:24 BST


Pope Leo has said that the world is being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” amid a deepening row over the war in Iran with US President Donald Trump. Speaking on a visit to Cameroon, the pontiff blasted leaders who spend billions on wars in unusually forceful remarks.

Leo, the first American pope, also decried leaders who used religious language to justify wars and urged a "decisive change of course". "The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild," the pontiff said.

"They turn a blind eye to the fact that ⁠billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, ​education ⁠and restoration are nowhere to be found." The pontiff sharply criticised leaders who invoked religious themes to justify wars, saying: “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”

He said the world had “turned upside down” and that said that it is an “exploitation of God’s creation that must be denounced and ‌rejected by every honest conscience.” Leo has emerged as an outspoken critic of Trump’s war in Iran, which has sparked fighting across the Middle East and a global economic crisis.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/pope-leo-trump-truth-social-attack-b2958952.html