By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa
United States’ Vice President, JD Vance, has rebuked Pope Leo XIV over his criticism of U.S. foreign policies, warning the pontiff to be “careful” when talking about theological matters.
Mr Vance’s statement came after the Pope criticised President Donald Trump’s attacks on Iran and Venezuela, noting God “is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs”.
Speaking during a Turning Point USA event in Athens, Georgia, on Tuesday, Mr Vance queried the Pope over his theological position, saying he sometimes disagrees with the clergy on issues related to abortion, immigration or war.
“Now we can, of course, have disagreements about whether this or that conflict is just, but I think in the way that it’s important for the vice president of the United States to be careful when I talk about matters of public policy, I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.
“Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated France from the Nazis? Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated Holocaust camps and liberated those, those innocent people, you know, those who had survived the Holocaust? I certainly think the answer is yes,” he stated.
Stressing the need for the clergy to anchor his theological positions in truth, Mr Vance added, “But I think one of the issues here is that if you’re going to opine on matters of theology, you’ve got to be careful. You’ve got to make sure it’s anchored in the truth, and that’s one of the things that I try to do, and it’s certainly something I would expect from the clergy, whether they’re Catholic or Protestant.”
After the Pope criticised Mr Trump’s attacks on Iran and Venezuela, the U.S. president berated the pontiff and described him as “weak on crime, and terrible for foreign policy.”
Despite that the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Bishop Robert Barron, Archbishop Thomas Wenski and others dismissed Mr Trump’s criticism of the Pope as inappropriate and urged him to apologise, the U.S. president insisted the pontiff was wrong for condemning his attacks on Iran and other countries.
