Leo XIV speaks clearly again in his messages addressed to Donald Trump. He Papa has claimed this Sunday respect a “the sovereignty of Venezuela and to the rule of law included in the Constitution”, in a message that represents his first public reaction to the United States military attack against the country and the arrest of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, currently held in a prison in New York with his wife.
“The good of the people Venezuelan must prevail over any other consideration,” stated the Pontiff, who urged “overcome violence and embark on paths of justice and peace.” Some statements delivered from the balcony of the Apostolic Palace, on a day marked by rain in Rome, at the end of his first Angelus of the year.
Leo XIV, of American and Peruvian nationality, has also expressed his “worry” by the evolution of the crisis and expressed his desire that the situation lead to “a serene future of collaboration, stability and harmony, with special attention to the poorest.” In that context, he also asked respect for “the rights human and civil of each and every one“, as he said, without explicitly mentioning the detained president.
Cold war?
The Pope’s message comes after, just over a month ago, openly reject a possible intervention US military in Venezuela. “It is always better to look for ways of dialogue or pressure, perhaps economic pressure, but exploring other paths to bring about change,” he had then stated in statements to the media aboard the papal plane, during his return from an official trip to Lebanon and Türkiye.
Although for the moment the relationship between Trump and León has not led to an open public clash, the religious leader’s criticism has soured the climate between the US and the Vatican in recent months. All this at the same time as Leo XIV He is not being lukewarm either. in its relationship with certain sectors of the most conservative wing and Trumpist of the American clergy.
Reflecting this was the decision in December to accept the resignation of the archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolanone of the most influential leaders of the most conservative current and former enemy of the late Francisco. In his place, the current Pope decided to appoint the bishop Ronald Hickswho, by style and background (he was a missionary in Peru), is more similar to Leo XIV, and who has also condemned the Trump Administration’s immigration raids.
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