MAGA followers were not happy with Pope Leo XIV and accused him of being "woke" after he, in remarks to reporters, implored "people of good will" to "search always for peace."
The Pope spoke out after President Donald Trump insisted that God supports his war on Iran and declared—before a provisional ceasefire was announced—that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" ahead of a deadline to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges that legal scholars and world leaders have said would constitute war crimes.
He—the first-U.S.-born Pope—urged Americans to press their elected officials to pursue peace and reject war, while strongly condemning rhetoric about Iran, reiterating what he said in his Easter Sunday urbi et orbi message:
"Once again, what I said in the Easter urbi et orbi message on Sunday asking people of good will to search always for peace and not violence, to reject war, especially a war which many people have said is an unjust war, which is continuing to escalate and is not resolving anything."
“In fact, have a worldwide economic crisis, energy crisis, situation in the Middle East of great instability, which is only provoking more hatred throughout the world."
"Let’s come back to the table, let’s talk, let’s look for solutions in a peaceful way, and let’s remember especially the innocent. Children, the elderly, the sick, so many people have already become or will become victims of this continued warfare.”
"I remind all that attacks on civilian infrastructure [are] against international law [and] also a sign of the hatred, the division, the destruction that the human being is capable of."
We all want to work for peace. People want peace. I would invite citizens of all the countries involved to contact the authorities, political leaders, congressmen, to ask them, tell them to work for peace and to reject war.”
The Pope's words angered one MAGA X account that concluded his remarks signal he "likes Islamic dictatorships."
You can see the post and hear the Pope's remarks below.
Very quickly, others accused him of being "woke" and suggested he is "too liberal" to lead the Catholic Church.
Others defended the Pope's message.
The MAGA faithful similarly spoke out against the Pope last month after he, just days after the U.S. and Israel's strikes on Iran, said that "stability and peace are not achieved through mutual threats."
At the time, Trump said that the U.S. military was "knocking the crap out of Iran" but the "big wave" of attacks was still yet to come, and that he had not ruled out putting boots on the ground, saying the war is progressing "way ahead of schedule."
The Pope took to X to stress the value in "reasonable, sincere, and responsible dialogue" over war.
"I am following with deep concern what is happening in the Middle East and in Iran during this tumultuous time. Stability and peace are not achieved through mutual threats, nor through the use of weapons, which sow destruction, suffering, and death, but only through reasonable, sincere, and responsible dialogue."
"Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of immense proportions, I make a heartfelt appeal to all the parties involved to assume the moral responsibility of halting the spiral of violence before it becomes an unbridgeable chasm."
"May diplomacy regain its proper role, and may the well-being of peoples, who yearn for peaceful existence founded on justice, be upheld. And let us continue to pray for peace."
Pope Leo was previously criticized by MAGA supporters after they became aware of an article he once shared that criticized Vice President JD Vance because "Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others."
