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Pope Leo said Wednesday that his visit to Africa offers a message of unity and peace that the world needs to hear, as he continues to face criticism for his stance on the Iran war from the president and vice president of the United States.
Speaking aboard the papal plane from Algeria to Cameroon, Leo XIV mentioned his visit to the Great Mosque of Algiers, the largest in Africa, and the birthplace of Saint Augustine of Hippo, an influential Christian figure who inspired him to become a priest.
The Pope said that going to the mosque showed that while we have different beliefs, we have different ways of worship, we have different ways of life, we can live together in peace.
" I think the promotion of this kind of image is something the world needs to hear today ," the Pope said.
Leo's trip to Africa, starting with a Muslim-majority country, comes as he has been increasingly critical of the US military operation in Iran. It has underscored the pope's stance as a counterweight to the Trump administration.
The Pope's willingness to criticize the US president on the world stage marks a significant escalation of tensions between Washington and the Vatican. Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, have engaged in a series of harsh statements all week aimed at the head of the Catholic Church, while the Pope, who declared earlier this week that he was "not afraid of the Trump administration ," shows no sign of backing down.
The Pope left for Africa just hours after Trump launched an extraordinary attack on the Pope and his stance on the war, with the president then tweeting an image of himself seemingly resembling a Jesus-like figure. The image was later deleted.
Vance, a Catholic, gave his opinion at a Turning Point USA event on Tuesday, saying the Pope should be "careful" when talking about theology and when questioning the Pope's understanding of Just War theory, the criteria for a morally justifiable conflict developed over centuries by Catholic thinkers.
A key architect of the Just War doctrine is Saint Augustine of Hippo, whom Leo venerated while in Algeria. Augustine, a bishop in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, is the spiritual father of the Augustinian order, of which the Pope is a member and former leader.
" His invitation to seek God and truth is something that is very much needed today," Leo said, speaking in English, aboard the plane from Algiers to Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. He noted that Augustine's memory is honored in Algeria, despite the majority Muslim population.
Saint Augustine, the Pope said, offers “the church and the world” a vision that includes “the struggle to build communities, to seek unity among all peoples and respect for all peoples, despite differences.”
Trump showed no sign of backing down from his taunt on Tuesday evening, saying it was "unacceptable" for Tehran to have a nuclear bomb.
" Can someone tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed protesters in the last two months, and that Iran having a nuclear bomb is absolutely unacceptable ," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Leo, who is the first Pope to visit Algeria, expressed his gratitude to the Algerian authorities for making the trip possible. He also paid tribute to the small but significant presence of the Catholic Church in Algeria.
While in Cameroon, he will address the conflict in the country between the Francophone government and English-speaking separatists, and attend a peace meeting. The Pope's trip to Africa also includes visits to Angola and Equatorial Guinea and ends on April 23.
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