Pope should ‘stick to matters of morality,’ Vance says, backing Trump

Pope should 'stick to matters of morality,' Vance says, backing Trump

Inja News آوریل 14, 2026 2 minutes read

US Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, has joined Donald Trump in criticizing Pope Leo XIV after the pontiff issued a stern call for an end to all war over the weekend.

“In some cases it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality,” Vance told Fox News in an interview aired on Monday.

“Stick to matters of, you know, what’s going on in the Catholic Church.”

It comes after US President Trump launched a sharp attack on Leo, the first pope born in the US, following a sermon on Saturday in which the head of the Catholic Church urged world leaders to halt hostilities and pursue peace.

Trump responded on Sunday by calling Leo “terrible” for foreign policy and “WEAK on Crime” in a lengthy post on Truth Social.

The pope hit back on Monday, saying he was “not afraid of the Trump administration.”

“The things I say are not meant as attacks on anyone,” the head of the Catholic Church said during a trip to Africa. “I am not a politician. I am inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation of looking for ways to avoid war any time that’s possible.”

Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, said that it was “a good thing, actually, that the pope is advocating for the things that he cares about.”

“We’re also going to disagree on substantive questions from time to time. I think that’s a totally reasonable thing.”

Regarding the public spat between Trump and Leo, Vance said: “I think it’s a natural thing. I’m sure it will happen in the future and it’s not that big of a deal that it happened in the past.”

Asked about an image posted by Trump depicting the US president as Jesus, Vance said Trump “was posting a joke.”

Vance said Trump had taken down the picture again after he “recognized that a lot of people weren’t understanding his humour in that case.”

ANEWS wp:paragraph