Overview
- León XIV, speaking to reporters Saturday during his flight from Cameroon to Angola, said he has no interest in debating President Trump and will keep preaching peace as he continues his Africa tour.
- Vatican media published an editorial that rebutted Trump’s false statement that the pope said Iran can have a nuclear weapon and restated the Church’s teaching that both use and possession of nuclear arms are immoral.
- Fox News reported that the administration rescinded a long‑running contract with Catholic Charities of Miami that funded care for unaccompanied migrant children, and Archbishop Thomas Wenski warned the $11 million program cannot continue without that support.
- U.S. Catholics voiced anger over Trump’s recent AI‑generated image that appeared to depict him as Jesus, which was later removed, and some warned the confrontation could erode his support among a key voting bloc.
- Anonymous accounts of a tense January Pentagon meeting with the Vatican’s envoy that invoked the historical ‘Avignon’ episode were disputed, as the Pentagon and the U.S. embassy called the reports false and Vatican officials described a routine exchange.