By Dominic DeGrinney, Staff Writer

A feud between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV was sparked last week as a result of conflicting views of religion in politics.

The conflict sparked as a result of the continuing conflict in the Strait of Hormuz by the United States, Israel and Iran. The Vatican made calls for an end to the conflict, which caused the Trump administration to respond.

 “Stability and peace are not built by mutual threats or by weapons that sow destruction, pain and death, but only through reasonable, authentic and responsible dialogue. Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I make a heartfelt appeal to the parties involved to assume their moral responsibility to stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss.” Pope Leo said during a midday vigil the day after Operation Epic Fury, the US-Israel military campaign targeting Iranian ballistic missiles, began.

Pope Leo has become more outspoken against the threats levied by Trump against the Iranian regime.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will… Maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World,” Trump said in a Truth Social on April 9.

Pope Leo responded that he was “deeply disturbed” by the threat of destruction against the civilization of Iran. This was followed by the Trump administration declaring Leo as“weak on crime,” and that “If Trump wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”

“I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

This was followed by an image posted by Trump on April 12 depicting himself as a robed figure healing a man with light. Despite criticism that assessed the piece of AI artwork as depicting Trump as Jesus Christ, the White House clarified that it was meant to show Trump as a doctor.

“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth… It is a world turned upside down, an exploitation of God’s creation that must be denounced and rejected by every honest conscience,” Pope Leo said last week in Cameroon while on his four-country tour of Africa.

The attacks from Trump and Pope Leo have divided Catholics. The U.S.Vice President JD Vance, a devout Catholic looking forward to releasing his own book focusing on his journey with spirituality, doubled down on the criticism of the pope.

“I think it’s very, very important for the Pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” Vance said during an event held by Turning Point USA.

The conflict between the Vice President and the Pope demonstrates a sore spot for Catholics who traditionally lean right and demonstrates the current divide in the church over politics.