(OSV News) — President Donald Trump lashed out at Pope Leo XIV on social media and in verbal remarks over the pontiff’s opposition to the Iran war over the course of several days starting April 12.
The same week, Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, resigned from Congress amid sexual misconduct scandals, and Trump weighed in on speculation about a potential Supreme Court vacancy.
Trump lashes out at Pope Leo
In his initial social media post, Trump called Pope Leo “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy,” as tensions escalate in the Middle East.
Pope Leo has been a staunch critic of combat operations generally, including those initiated by the U.S. and Israel against Iran on Feb. 28. In defense of their combat operations, the Trump administration has argued the Iranian regime presented grave nuclear threats.
In the post and in subsequent comments to reporters, Trump repeatedly claimed that Pope Leo made a statement he supports Iran having a nuclear weapon; however, the pontiff never made any such statement and has consistently called for the rejection of nuclear weapons.
Asked about Trump’s comments, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told an audience at George Washington University, “You’d have to ask a psychiatrist.”
“It isn’t even worthy of a conversation; it’s really worthy of a diagnosis,” Pelosi, who is Catholic, said.
Amid the controversy, Vice President JD Vance appeared to warn Pope Leo to “be careful” when speaking about theology and taking issue with his description of the U.S. conflict in Iran as unjust.
During comments April 14 at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, Vance, who came into the Church in 2019 after receiving instruction from Dominican friars and is the second Catholic to hold the vice presidency, invoked “the more than 1,000-year tradition of Just War theory” in justifying his opposition to the pope’s comments about the Iran conflict. In a post on X, Pope Leo said God “is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is Protestant, also seemed to back the White House, telling reporters at the Capitol, “A pontiff or any religious leader can say anything they want, but obviously, if you wade into political waters, I think you should expect some political response, and I think the pope’s received some of that.”
In a statement that did not name Vance but was issued after his comments, Auxiliary Bishop James Massa of Brooklyn, New York, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, underscored the Church’s understanding of just war theory and Pope Leo’s objections to the conflict.
“A constant tenet of that thousand-year tradition is a nation can only legitimately take up the sword ‘in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church),” Bishop Massa said. “That is, to be a just war it must be a defense against another who actively wages war, which is what the Holy Father actually said: ‘He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.'”
“When Pope Leo speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church,” Bishop Massa continued, “he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ.”
“The consistent teaching of the Church is insistent that all people of good will must pray and work toward lasting peace while avoiding the evils and injustices that accompany all wars,” Bishop Massa added.
Other Catholic bishops and organizations also spoke out in defense of Pope Leo.
Pope Leo told journalists aboard the papal plane to Algiers, Algeria, on April 13, that he is not a politician, but he will “continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the States to look for just solutions to problems.”
“I have no fear neither of the Trump administration nor speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel,” he said, “which is what I believe I am here to do, what the Church is here to do.”
Meanwhile, the Illinois home of John Prevost, one of Leo’s older brothers, was the target of an unsubstantiated bomb threat on April 15, New Lenox police said the following day.
Swalwell, Gonzales resign from Congress amid scandal
Both Swalwell and Gonzales resigned from the House on April 14, preempting an effort that may have otherwise led to their individual expulsions from that chamber.
Each now-former member was the subject of separate House Ethics Committee investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct, including toward women who had been in their employ, which is against House rules. Their resignations effectively ended those investigations, as the Ethics Committee only has jurisdiction over sitting members of Congress. However, other investigations by law enforcement are expected to continue.
Swalwell faces allegations of sexual assault from multiple women, including rape allegations, which he has denied. Gonzales first denied and then admitted to an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide, officials said.
The pair were the subject of a bipartisan push to remove both men from the chamber as a result.
Trump says he has short list for Supreme Court nominees in event of vacancy
Amid speculation about when Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas may choose to retire, Trump said in comments to Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo he already has a short list of possible replacements.
“I think he is one of the great justices of all time,” Trump said regarding Alito, adding, “It’d be nice to say, now I have somebody for 40 years.”
However, there is no public indication that Alito plans to retire in the short-term, as Fox News Digital reported he is hiring clerks for the court’s next term.
When Bartiromo asked Trump if he had a short list in such an event, Trump replied, “I do.”
Meanwhile, Justice Sonia Sotomayor apologized for what she called “hurtful” remarks about Justice Brett Kavanaugh regarding their difference of opinion in a case where the court allowed immigration enforcement stops.
“At a recent appearance at the University of Kansas School of Law, I referred to a disagreement with one of my colleagues in a prior case, but I made remarks that were inappropriate,” the rare statement from Sotomayor said. “I regret my hurtful comments. I have apologized to my colleague.”
Sotomayor had previously appeared to suggest Kavanaugh “probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour.”
The same week, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas criticized progressivism as a threat to the nation’s founding principles in a speech at the University of Texas Austin Law School.
“Progressivism seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence and hence our form of government,” Thomas argued, without pointing to specific cases or events.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson criticized a slew of what she called “potentially corrosive” emergency decisions by the high court in an April 13 speech at Yale Law School.
“There is value in avoiding having the court continually touching the third rail of every divisive policy issue in American life,” Jackson said.
Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
