Pope Leo XIV has responded to criticism from US President Donald Trump, who has called him "weak on crime" and "bad on foreign policy".
"I am not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loud about the message of the Gospel, which I believe is why I am here, what the Church must do," the Pope told reporters on the papal plane, ahead of his trip to Algeria.
"We are not politicians. We do not deal with foreign policy from the same perspective as he does, but I believe in the message of the Gospel, as a peacemaker," he added.
The Pope's statements were published by an OSV News journalist on the X platform.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump's criticism came in a post on social media on Sunday evening and appears to have been prompted by the Pope's recent statements, in which he criticized the US-Israeli war against Iran.
