Pope Leo xiv appeared to bury the hatchet with Donald Trump over the weekend, but appearances can be deceiving.

• The leader of the Vatican accused news media of spreading “a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects,” publishing “commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said.”

He never intended to criticize the president, Leo implied, pointing to comments he made at an April 16 meeting in Cameroon:

The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants …. Blessed are the peacemakers …. But 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.

An old message? The pope said that message “was prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting.”

• That may be true, but those remarks are not the most direct ones he has leveled at the president. When asked specifically about Donald Trump on April 13, he replied, “I don’t think that the message of the gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing.”

The pope has stepped up his attack on war dramatically over the last few weeks.

• “God does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war,” the pope said on March 29, misapplying Isaiah 1:15. The comment came after U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth encouraged Americans to pray for victory.
• “God does not bless any conflict,” the pope posted on X on Friday. “Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”
• “Enough of the idolatry of self and money!” he said on Saturday. “Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life.”
• “Dear brothers and sisters, there are certainly binding responsibilities that fall to the leaders of nations,” he said in the same message. “To them we cry out: Stop! It is time for peace! Sit at the table of dialogue and mediation, not at the table where rearmament is planned and deadly actions are decided!”

The idea that the pope is repeatedly attacking the actions of Donald Trump is clearly not something the media has concocted, simply putting their own spin on preplanned statements, as the pope implied.

His statements helped widen the divide between Europe and the U.S., prompting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to turn from a Trump supporter to an opponent.

• With that done, the pope is working to have his cake and eat it too, and avoid alienating American Catholics more than necessary.

The vice president is content to bury the hatchet. JD Vance, who is Catholic, responded on X:

I am grateful to Pope Leo for saying this. While the media narrative constantly gins up conflict—and yes, real disagreements have happened and will happen—the reality is often much more complicated. Pope Leo preaches the gospel, as he should, and that will inevitably mean he offers his opinions on the moral issues of the day. The president—and the entire administration—work to apply those moral principles in a messy world. He will be in our prayers, and I hope that we’ll be in his.

But the leader of the Vatican is clearly asserting that the leaders of the United States have “abused the gospel.” This administration needs to see that the Vatican is directly opposed to its foreign policy.

A forecast clash: After Pope Leo was elected, we wrote in the Philadelphia Trumpet:

The Holy Roman Empire is flooding America with illegal immigrants while it gears up to besiege it economically. The election of a Peruvian-American bishop promising to defend Catholic economic teachings is an escalation of this trend.

Germany and the Vatican are building a transcontinental alliance that will ultimately include 10 European kings, a loyal network of Latin American vassal states and an anti-Iran, anti-Israel alliance of Arabic regimes. …

One way or another, Leo XIV may not be pope for long. Nevertheless, even with a short reign he is well positioned to help unite Europe and Latin America against the Anglo-Protestant world.

That is exactly what Pope Leo has done in his clash the president.