Overview
- President Trump, in a Monday interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, said Pope Leo thinks it is OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon and warned the pope is endangering Catholics.
- Speaking to reporters Tuesday outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo said the Church has long opposed all nuclear weapons and asked critics to judge his preaching on peace truthfully.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday recast the comments, saying Trump’s point was that Iran must never get a bomb because it could threaten places with many Catholics and other Christians.
- The State Department says Rubio will meet Pope Leo at the Vatican on Thursday and also see Italy’s prime minister, with U.S. and Vatican officials expecting frank talks on the Middle East and other issues.
- The dispute grows from the Iran war that Leo condemns as he urges peace, and it carries U.S. political risk, with recent polls reporting rising Catholic disapproval of Trump.