Pope Leo says he will continue to speak out against war after Trump attack

Pope Leo, originally from Chicago, has emerged as an outspoken critic of the US-Israeli war on Iran in recent weeks and decried the "madness of war" on in a peace appeal on Saturday.

Pope Leo told Reuters on Monday that he plans to continue speaking out against war ⁠after US President Donald Trump's direct attack on the leader of ⁠the 1.4-billion-member Church.

In comments aboard the papal ‌flight to Algiers, where ​the first US pope is starting a 10-day tour to four African countries, the pontiff also said the Christian message was being "abused".

"I don't want to get into a debate ​with him," Leo ⁠told Reuters as he greeted journalists on the plane. "I don't think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people ⁠are doing."

"I ‌will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and ‌multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to ⁠problems," he said, speaking on English.

"Too many people are suffering in the world today," said Leo. "Too ‌many innocent people are being killed. ‌And I think someone has to stand up and ‌say there's a better way."

"The message of ‌the church, my message, the message of the Gospel: Blessed are the Peacemakers. I do not look at my role as being political, ⁠a politician," ⁠he said.

Leo, originally from Chicago, has emerged as an outspoken critic of the US-Israeli war on Iran in recent weeks and decried the "madness of war" on in a peace appeal on Saturday.

Trump, in an apparent response to the pope's criticisms of both the conflict and ​the White House's hard-line immigration policies, said late on ​Sunday that Leo was "terrible".

"Pope ​Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," Trump wrote in ​a post on Truth Social.