Vatican Rejects Trump Ambassador’s Claim about Pope's Criticism of Iran War

IQNA – The Vatican rejected an attempt by the Trump administration’s ambassador to the Holy See to portray Pope Leo XIV’s criticism of the US war on Iran as a political intervention rather than a religious position.

News ID: 3498244

Date: 14 July 2026 - 10:06

The response came in an opinion article by Andrea Tornielli, editorial manager for the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication.

Tornielli’s article followed remarks by US Ambassador Brian Burch arguing that Pope Leo had spoken primarily in his capacity as sovereign of Vatican City.

Burch, a Catholic political activist and ally of US President Donald Trump, said the pope’s criticism should therefore be understood in the same way as comments issued by any other political leader.

“When the pope acts as the sovereign leader of the Holy See, he is coequal with world leaders,” Burch said in an interview published Thursday by The New York Times.

Tornielli directly challenged that interpretation in an article published by Vatican News, the Holy See’s official media outlet.

Although he did not mention Burch by name, Tornielli said portraying the pope primarily as a head of state distorted the nature of his authority and weakened the spiritual meaning of his public interventions.

“Any glorification or exaggeration of the Pope’s role as head of state, any emphasis on the importance of this role, is … misleading because it comes at the expense of his one true mission as universal Shepherd,” Tornielli wrote.

He added that the pope’s interventions on global conflicts, migration, and technological change should be viewed as part of his religious mission rather than as conventional diplomacy.

“Even when he speaks about war and peace, migration or how to remain human in the age of artificial intelligence, the Successor of Peter remains, above all, a spiritual leader,” Tornielli wrote.

The exchange reflects increasingly visible tensions between Pope Leo, the first US-born pontiff, and the Trump administration.

Leo has repeatedly criticized the US war on Iran and has condemned efforts by Washington to invoke religion in support of the military campaign.

Source: Daily Beast