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Pope Leo has debuted a new, forceful speaking style on his four-nation Africa tour this week, issuing sharp denunciations of war and inequality that have sparked repeated attacks on the pontiff from US President Donald Trump.
The change in rhetoric reflects Leo’s growing concern with the direction of global leadership, experts said, after he maintained a relatively low profile for a pope during the first 10 months of his papacy.
Trump first attacked Leo as “terrible” on Sunday, in an apparent response to the pope’s criticisms of the US-Israeli war on Iran. He lobbed more criticism again on Thursday, suggesting the pope didn’t understand foreign policy issues. The first US pope, speaking earlier that day in Cameroon, had said the world was “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants”, without naming individuals.
“Normally popes and the Vatican are cautious when it comes to international politics, preferring diplomacy to public censure,” said John Thavis, a retired Vatican correspondent who covered three papacies.
