Free Republic

The Anti-American PopeThe man elected to oppose Trump refuses to visit the US for its 250th birthday, roots for Peru against the US, attended a Communist peace march, & just appointed three anti-Trump bishops for the US.The first American-born occupant of the Vatican in history has declined an invitation to come home for the 250th birthday of the United States. Instead of standing in America on July 4, he is expected to go to Lampedusa, the Mediterranean island that has become a symbol of illegal African immigration into Europe. JD Vance had invited Leo to attend America’s 250th anniversary events,...

Donald Trump’s Truth Social post against Pope Leo is unprecedented in the history of the presidency and papacy. No president has ever made such a statement, even as previous popes urged peace during wartime and opposed specific U.S. interventions. Our Aubrey Harris noted examples going back to Pope Benedict XV and World War I. Others are detailing examples from throughout the 20th century. They’ve continued into this century. In recent times, President George W. Bush felt no compulsion to publicly denounce Pope John Paul II when the sainted pontiff opposed the U.S. war in Iraq — a war that Donald...

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.

<p>Senior Vatican Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández has said Pope Leo XIV is continuing the legacy of Pope Francis.</p><p>On April 13, Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, stated in an interview given to Italian newspaper Il Giornale that it is inaccurate to claim Pope Leo XIV intends to overturn his predecessor’s pontificate, emphasizing instead continuity through specific initiatives and teachings promoted within the Church. The interview marked the approaching first anniversary of Pope Francis’s death, on April 21.</p>

Some conservative commentators accused CBS’s "60 Minutes" of airing a segment featuring three "left-wing" cardinals who criticized the Trump administration’s immigration and Iran policies. Father Gerald Murray and author Robert Royal joined Raymond Arroyo on "The Prayerful Posse" to discuss whether the situation was meant to spark a conflict between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV. "The three of them are billed as so-called influential, but none of them hold offices in the U.S. Bishops' Conference, and they have never been elected," Royal said. He compared the group to "The Squad" in U.S. politics, calling them "a very definite...

President Donald Trump on April 16 defended his criticism of Pope Leo XIV’s stance on the Iran war, saying he has a right to disagree with the Holy Father and that a meeting is not necessary to resolve their differences. Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump said he has “no disagreement with the fact the pope can say what he wants, and I want him to say what he wants, but I can disagree.”“I want him to preach the Gospel. I’m all about the Gospel,” Trump said of Pope Leo at another point. “But I also know you...

In 1955, Algeria had over 1 million Catholics and 140,000 Jews. Today, as Pope Leo visits Algeria, there are some 8,000 Catholics in Algeria and there are fewer than 200 Jews.99% of the population of what was one of the old territories of Christianity are Sunni Muslims.Was Islam so popular that all the Christians and Jews decided to convert? Not at all. They were persecuted, murdered, tortured and driven out by Islamic violence that occurred in our lifetimes.Christians and Jews had lived in Algeria since Roman times. Now they’re gone.This Christian genocide was endorsed by major world powers, aided and...

Vice President JD Vance responded to Pope Leo's recent comments opposing the war in Iran, as the Vatican has taken heat from President Trump for commenting on political matters, and specifically calling out U.S. policy. Vance was asked about the Pope’s comments at a recent Turning Point USA event, where he suggested that the Pontiff and the president had a difference of opinion over whether the Iran war could be considered a just war. "Number one, when the Pope says that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword, there is a thousand-year, more than a...

President Donald Trump on April 14 directly addressed Pope Leo XIV in another Truth Social post, drawing attention to the Iranian regime’s reported killing of thousands of protesters in the past two months. “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable,” he wrote.Protests in Iran erupted in late December 2025 over economic hardships and quickly turned into broader anti-government demonstrations, Zeale News previously reported. Iranian security forces reportedly responded with live ammunition against the...

🚨 WOW. Border Czar Tom Homan just gave the PERFECT response to Pope Leo "I'm a lifelong Catholic. I wish they'd STAY OUT of immigration, they don't know what they're talking about." "Because if they wore my shoes for 40 years, and talked to a 9-year-old girl that got r*ped multiple times, or stood in the back of a tractor trailer with 19 dead aliens at my feet, including a 5-year-old boy that baked to death, if they understood the atrocities that happened on the open border, I think their opinion would change!" "And I welcome discussion with any of...

Pope Leo XIV’s relentless and morally confused attacks on the Orange Bad Man have failed to damage the president’s standing with church-going Catholics, who give Trump a 58 percent job approval rating.Oh, and 50 percent of Catholics who actually go to church also approve of Trump taking military action against a suicidal terrorist regime in Iran seeking nuclear weapons.While it’s true Trump has lost support amongst the broad group of those who identify as Catholic, those who actually practice the faith (which means attending church) still support the president by a 58 to 42 percent margin.That number flips to 42...

President Donald Trump flipped on his once close ally, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, on Tuesday in a phone interview with an Italian daily newspaper. Trump responded to Meloni’s recent criticism of his attack on Pope Leo XIV by accusing Meloni of being a changed person. On Monday, Meloni called Trump’s multiple attacks on the Pope “unacceptable.” “I find President Trump’s words toward the Holy Father unacceptable,” Meloni said in a statement. “The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal that he calls for peace and condemns every form of war.” Meloni was...

The friction between the Vatican and the White House reached a boil over point with the depiction of President Trump comforting an individual in a meme. It was suggestive of President Trump acting as Jesus. Was this a wise move by President Trump? Probably not. It probably should have been scrapped by a cooler head along the chain, but it wasn’t. Nevertheless, however tasteless and indicative of a slip in judgement, it is not the end of the world. A more carefully constructed team of “meme advisors” would have counseled against it. President Trump is giving us what we voted...

If the morally-confused Pope Leo XIV continues to assume the role of a partisan podcaster, he will very quickly lose his moral authority.And that’s exactly what Leo is doing.We all expect a pope to talk about and pray for peace in times of war, express a desire for unity in times of political divisiveness, and to always appeal to the best in humanity. That’s not what this pope has done. Instead, apparently under the sway of Barry Obama’s hatchet man and former campaign manager, David Axelrod, Leo is recklessly engaging in a left-wing campaign to damage President Trump’s and the...

Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert who occasionally has sparred with church leaders over their criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, said in an interview on Fox News Channel on Monday night that the president’s social media post with the Jesus-like image was “a joke.” “Of course, he took it down because he realized a lot of people weren’t understanding his humor,” Vance said. He repeatedly dismissed the focus on the president’s fight with the pope, saying it “isn’t particularly newsworthy” and there will be disagreements from time to time with the Vatican. But Vance also suggested the...

A majority of U.S. Catholic voters supported Donald Trump in his 2024 presidential victory. Yet across the broad Catholic political spectrum – even among conservative-leaning bishops – there is dismay over Trump’s unprecedented verbal assault on Pope Leo XIV, the first American to lead their church. Leo says he is sharing a Gospel message and not directly attacking Trump or anyone else with his appeals for peace and criticism of attitudes fueling the war. Criticism of Trump came from Archbishop Paul Coakley, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and from Minnesota-based Bishop Robert Barron, who only a few...

There's no lack of blame to go around for the overnight spat between Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, and President Trump doing his late-night tweets.AdvertisementFollowing the heavily advertised 60 Minutes segment featuring the pope's three closest and wokest U.S. cardinals repeating their criticisms of Trump's Iran actions and work restoring U.S. immigration law, Trump put out these intemperate tweets:B R E A K I N G 🅱️ President Trump SLAMS Pope Leo for catering to woke radical leftists.. 👀 pic.twitter.com/5Ua04zcvuG — American AF 🇺🇸 (@iAnonPatriot) April 13, 2026The president posted this not long after attacking the Pope: pic.twitter.com/RlRhO63ZCoAdvertisement —...