Pope Leo says he has 'no fear' of Donald Trump after scathing criticism — BBC News

[0:00] This is BBC News, I'm Geetha Guramuthi. Now we're just going to bring you some news from Pope Leo's trip. [0:07] He is in Algeria at the start of a 10-day tour. These are the live pictures coming in to us [0:13] as he visits a martyr's monument in the country and the Pontiff's itinerary includes a visit to [0:20] the Great Mosque of Algiers with the world's highest minaret and the Basilica of Our Lady [0:24] of Africa overlooking the Bay of Algiers. He's also going to visit Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial [0:29] Guinea. A fifth of the world's Christians live on the African continent. And also on this trip, [0:38] you can see these live images beaming into us at the moment, Pope Leo has responded to Donald Trump's [0:45] attacks against him because on board the plane that carried the pontiff to Algeria for this trip, [0:53] Pope Leo said he does not intend to debate with the American president over his message for peace. [0:58] He said that the message of the church, my message, the message of the gospel, blessed are the [1:07] peacemakers. I do not look at my role as being a political politician. I don't want to get into a [1:14] debate with him. I don't think that the message of the gospel is meant to be abused in the way that [1:20] some people are doing. And I will continue to speak out loud against war, looking to promote peace, [1:26] promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the states, to look for just solutions to [1:32] the problems. Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being [1:36] killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say, there's a better way to do this. [1:42] Pope Leo there saying he will continue to speak out loudly against the war. Those comments came in [1:47] response to President Trump, who launched a direct attack against the pontiff on Sunday. [1:51] As he told reporters, he wasn't a fan of the leader of the Catholic Church, especially over his stance [1:57] on Iran. We don't like a pope that's going to say that it's okay to have a nuclear weapon. [2:03] We don't want a pope that says crime is okay in our cities. I don't like it. I'm not a big fan of Pope Leo. [2:10] He's a very liberal person. And he's a man that doesn't believe in stopping crime. He's a man that [2:16] doesn't think that we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon so they can [2:24] blow up the world. I'm not a fan of Pope Leo. [2:29] Well, let's speak to our correspondent in Rome, Davide Giglioni. And Davide, we'll come on to the [2:33] details of the tour in a moment. But just first of all, on the pope's comments about the president [2:39] and the Iran war, you know, ratcheting up in a way, this dialogue, these rather tense comments [2:45] that we've heard from both Donald Trump and the pope on the subject of war. [2:51] That's quite unusual for a pope to refer to a head of state, to a US president. And we've heard over the [2:59] last few weeks. Very strong and sharp remarks from Leo and... Davide, we're going to stop you [3:10] just to listen, sorry, to the pope speaking live now in Algeria. [3:21] In this land where cultures and religions intersect, mutual respect is the path that enables everyone [3:31] to walk together. May Algeria, firm in its roots, and steadfast in the hope of its young men [3:38] and women, continue to contribute to stability and dialogue within the international community [3:45] and along the shores of the Mediterranean. [3:47] In this land, the ethnicities and religions are the way that allows people to walk with us. [4:00] Every people possesses a unique patrimony of history, culture, and faith. Algeria, too, is blessed with this richness, which has sustained it through difficult times, and continues to [4:33] guide it into the future. Faith in God has a central place in your heritage. [4:38] Indeed, faith illuminates the life of each person, sustains families, and inspires a sense of fraternity. [4:49] A nation that loves God possesses true wealth, and the Algerian people cherish this jewel as one of their treasures. [4:58] Our world needs believers like this, men and women of faith who thirst for justice and unity. [5:06] For this reason, in the face of a humanity yearning for fraternity and reconciliation, it is a great gift and a sacred duty for us to declare with conviction that we are always united as brothers and sisters, children of the one God. [5:25] Pope Leo there speaking at the Algeria-France war monument and calling for forgiveness on that particular question. [5:34] But this comes as the start of a 10-day trip to the African continent, visiting four countries. [5:39] He's just starting this tour in Algeria. [5:42] And our correspondent, Davide Giglioni, is still in Rome for us. [5:47] Davide, we were just talking there about the Pope's comments on the Iran war, because he was criticised by President Trump, because the pontiff has criticised the ongoing war in Iran that is being waged by the U.S. and Israel. [6:05] And it's very unusual, isn't it, to see this sort of public dispute. [6:10] Absolutely, it's been quite strong. [6:15] It's very unusual to hear such remarks coming from the pontiff, from the Pope, and especially a U.S.-born pontiff like Pope Leo. [6:30] He's been very, very clear in recent days. [6:33] He started a couple of weeks ago when he described as unacceptable the threat against the Iranian people. [6:41] But in a rare step for a pontiff, he also responded directly to Trump and his threats against the country. [6:49] Now, also, obviously, today, I was just reading his words, which were just pronounced a couple of minutes ago, maybe half an hour ago, on the plane. [7:01] And it's really important to understand what the Vatican and the Pope really want to achieve, because the Pope also said, [7:08] we are not politicians, I'm not a politician. So what the Pope and the Vatican have been trying to stress is a counter-narrative. [7:19] Because obviously, as journalists, for us, it's very natural to identify a duel between two big political personalities. [7:27] But what the Vatican has been saying here, and the Pope, is that it's really not a personal duel. [7:33] What he's really doing here, the Pope, is targeting the moral architecture of the war. [7:39] So he's trying to make the message as universal as possible, and he's using his moral authority to do it. [7:45] So I don't think he wants to be seen as the anti-Trump, but he wants to talk to the world and the Catholic Church, and he wants to use the Gospel to do so. [7:55] OK, it'll be very interesting to see what the reaction is amongst the Catholic Church leaders and believers around the world to this dispute that we are seeing. [8:06] Davide Giglioni in Rome, thank you.