Important News
During his trip to Africa, the pontiff took aim at “a handful of tyrants” on a continent that hosts a few – but also at “the masters of war“. “They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent to kill, to destroy”, he lamented on Thursday during his stop in Cameroon, “while the resources needed for healing, education, and reconstruction are nowhere to be found“.
Donald Trump takes on “weak” Pope Leo XIV
Donald Trump thought he could treat Leo XIV like he would any ordinary Democratic opponent. But the Pope is not one. The first to remind him of this was Giorgia Meloni. She governs the country around which Christianity gravitates, and while she was a fan of the American President, who saw her as a model partner in Europe, she could not tolerate the diatribe. The tension now escalates between Rome and Washington.
The controversy grows even more in the United States, about six months before the midterms. Catholics are a minority in the country, but their influence can be decisive in certain districts. In Pennsylvania, for example, Republican congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, unsure of being re-elected in November, condemned “the insult”, even “the sacrilege” committed by Trump, whose statements he considers “unworthy of a President”. He demands an apology, a bold move not often seen among the current presidential camp at the Capitol.
God and flags
Conservative Christians are naturally grateful to Donald Trump for advancing several of their causes, such as against abortion. However, they are less appreciative of certain gestures. Like when the President presents himself as the embodiment of Jesus on social media. Or when his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, believes he is quoting a passage from the Bible in public, but is actually reciting a prayer invented by Quentin Tarantino in Pulp Fiction!
The mistake could not better illustrate the Pope’s anger, condemning those who “manipulate religion in the name of God to satisfy their own military, economic, or political interests, turning what is sacred into darkness and filth“. The message is all the more troubling for Republicans as it is Leo XIV, a native of Chicago, and not their President, who is now invoking the values of humanity, solidarity, and generosity on which America was founded 250 years ago.
