Pope Leo marks one year in the job with trip to Naples – and a continuing spat with Trump

Diarmuid Pepper Reporting from Naples

EXACTLY ONE YEAR ago today, Cardinal Robert Prevost appeared at the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome to be presented as the 267^th pope.

His first word as the new leader of the Catholic Church was “peace”.

Later in his first address as pontiff, Pope Leo XIV said the peace he spoke of was “an unarmed and disarming peace, humble and persevering”.

As he marks his first year in the job with a trip to Pompeii and Naples, Leo has found himself in a continuing spat with Donald Trump for preaching about a “disarming” peace.

A senior member of Trump’s administration, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio,  yesterday met with Leo at the Vatican, a meeting that had been planned before Trump’s attacks on the pope.

“The trip is really not tied to anything other than the fact that it would be normal for us to engage,” said Rubio before his departure for Rome.

However, he acknowledged that “obviously we had some stuff that happened” and that “there’s a lot to talk about with the Vatican”.

The Vatican said afterwards that the need to “foster good bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States of America was reaffirmed” during the “cordial” meeting.

Asked yesterday if he had any imparting words for Rubio, Trump said he told Rubio that he should “tell the pope very nicely, very respectfully, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon – also tell the pope that Iran killed 42,000 innocent protesters who didn’t have guns, tell that to the pope”.

‘Does not sit well with me’

The simmering tension between the US president and the first US pope broke out into a full-on war of words last month, with Trump taking to his Truth Social platform to decry Leo as “weak on crime”.

“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” added Trump.

“Unfortunately, Leo’s Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me.”

Trump then called on Leo to “get his act together as Pope, use Common sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician.”

The US president later posted an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure, but later claimed he was depicted as a doctor.

Asked about Trump’s broadside on the eve of an 11-day visit to Africa, Leo namechecked Trump and said he was “not afraid of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel”.

He added: “The message of the Church, my message, the message of the Gospel: blessed are the peacemakers.”

‘If someone criticises, do so truthfully’

In the time since, Trump has repeatedly accused Leo of being in favour of Iran having a nuclear weapon, despite the fact that Leo has consistently spoken out against nuclear arms.

The Vatican also recently warned that a “reliance on nuclear deterrence is placing the world on an increasingly perilous path”.

The public spat then receded somewhat, with Leo remarking that he isn’t “trying to debate the president”.

During his visit to Africa, Leo hit out at “tyrants” for spending billions on war.

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But Leo then told reporters that his speeches should not be viewed as a running commentary on Trump and noted that his tyrant speech had been written two weeks earlier.

“Well before the president ever commented on myself,” said Leo.

“And yet as it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate, again, the president, which is not in my interest at all”.

But this week, on the eve of the first anniversary of Leo being elected as pope, the spat has taken centre stage once more.

On Monday, Trump told a conservative podcast that Leo was “endangering a lot of Catholics”.

“The pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told The Hugh Hewitt Show on Monday.

“I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people, but I guess if it’s up to the pope, he thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

A day later, Leo was asked about this latest attack and called on Trump to be “truthful”.

“The mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace,” Leo told reporters.

“If anyone wishes to criticise me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so truthfully.

“For years, the Church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons, there is absolutely no doubt on that front.”

Leo was also asked on Tuesday about his comment on how “God does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war” and whether this applies to all who take up arms, even in self-defence.

Leo noted that self-defence has “traditionally always been allowed by the Church.”

He then added: “To talk about just war today, itʼs a very complex problem.

“Ever since the entrance into the nuclear age, the whole concept of war has to be re-evaluated with terms today.

“I always believe itʼs much better to enter into dialogue than to look for arms and to support the arms industry, which gains billions and billions of dollars each year, instead of sitting down at the table solving our problems and using money to solve humanitarian issues, hunger in the world, etcetera.”

Pompeii and Naples visit

Today, on the first anniversary of his pontificate, Leo will visit Pompeii and Naples, though the visit is not strictly to commemorate his first year in the job.

In Pompeii, Leo is visiting for the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii, and tens of thousands are expected to welcome the pope.

The last papal visit to Pompeii was by Pope Francis in 2015.

From there, Leo will then make his way to Naples and visit the Royal Chapel of the Treasury of St Januarius, and a reliquary containing the ampoules of the blood of St Januarius, who was beheaded in 305, will be displayed.

This reliquary is renowned in Naples and traditionally the dried blood liquefies three times a year, as it is said to have done last Saturday.

Speaking ahead of Leo’s visit, the Archbishop of Pompeii, Tommaso Caputo, remarked that southern Italy faces “many difficulties caused by precarious and often poorly paid work”.

He expressed hope that Leo’s visit will “make our hope even more alive and give renewed impetus to our works of charity”.

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