"Today Iran says 'yes,' the US says 'no,' and tomorrow it's the reverse," Pope Leo XIV told reporters on 23/4 aboard his plane returning to the Vatican after an 11-day tour of Africa. He added, "This causes chaos, severely impacts the global economy, and no one knows where things are headed."

The Vatican leader spoke as the US-Iran ceasefire is being tested by confrontations around the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The Pope expressed his displeasure that diplomatic efforts have yet to resolve the stalemate, while "the entire Iranian people, innocent civilians, are suffering because of the war."

After the US extended the ceasefire on 21/4, both nations continued to impose a blockade on the strait using different methods, almost strangling the shipping route that carries 20% of the world's oil supply. Iran declared it would not open the strait as long as the US blockade remained in effect.

Pope Leo XIV speaks to the media on his flight back to Rome, 23/4. *Photo: AP*

When reporters asked for comment on reports that the Iranian government was executing dissidents, the Pope stated his opposition to the death penalty and "the act of taking human life." He affirmed, "When a regime, a nation, makes decisions that unjustly take the lives of others, it clearly needs to be condemned."

President Trump had repeatedly reported on death penalty cases in Iran, but these claims were often controversial or unverified. The US leader recently stated that Iran canceled plans to hang 8 women after his appeal, but Tehran asserted no such plans existed.

Location of the Strait of Hormuz. *Graphic: Guardian*

US and Iranian officials have not commented on the Pope's new statements. Trump had previously welcomed the election of Pope Leo XIV as a "great honor" for the US. In his first year, the Pope largely avoided direct criticism of the Trump administration, but this gradually changed as the Iran conflict escalated.

On 12/4, the US President sharply criticized the Pope, calling him "weak on crime and bad on foreign relations." The Pope declared he was "not afraid of the Trump administration" and would continue to speak out for peace, in a rare instance of directly naming a US presidential administration. Trump later said he "owed the Pope no apology."

Trump's criticism of the Pope displeased some Catholic voters. President Trump was re-elected for a second term in 11/2024, partly due to support from the American Catholic community, with 55% of voters in this group casting ballots for him, according to the Pew Research Center. This is also a crucial voter demographic that the Republican Party needs to rely on if it wants to maintain a narrow majority in both houses during the midterm elections.

Duc Trung (According to CBS News, Reuters, AFP)