To the editor: Last week, Pope Leo XIV called on the people of the world to work toward peace and for the U.S. to end the war in Iran (“Trump slams Pope Leo as ‘weak,’ but the U.S.-born pontiff stands firm on peace,” April 13). President Trump childishly tried to counter the Holy Father’s message with name-calling, false information, divisiveness and even the silly claim that Trump somehow influenced the papal conclave to elect Pope Leo.
Pope Leo reiterated his message of peace. Trump, finding no legitimate way to silence the pope, posted an AI-generated image that portrayed him as Jesus healing the sick. To what heights can our president’s pomposity and grandiosity rise?
Vice President JD Vance, a fairly recent convert to Roman Catholicism, defended Trump’s actions by saying he was joking. Were Trump’s actions funny? Is this the behavior of a true leader? Is this the conduct of a statesman? Is this what you would like your children to emulate?
Contrast Trump’s childish and erratic behavior with the calm, reasoned, logical and principle-based response by Pope Leo. The pope asks only for peace. Trump reacts only with name-calling, division and insults. And yet, we, as Americans, sit idly by. We witness this behavior over and over again, and yet we do nothing.
Why are we so complacent? Where is our outrage? These behaviors must be repudiated. Let us stand up for what is right. Let us stand up for dignity. Let us stand up for truth. Let us demand that Trump put Americans first, and that he suppresses his own ego for the sake of those he promised to serve.
Thomas Keens, La Cañada Flintridge
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To the editor: Why don’t the pope and the Catholic Church stay out of politics, or better yet, use more of the church’s wealth to improve the lives of the destitute and needy?
The Catholic Church has had its own sins, from the Crusades to the Spanish Inquisition to helping Nazis escape prosecution after World War II to, more recently, child molestation. It has no right to point fingers at anyone and should look in the mirror before casting criticism or throwing stones.
Steven Moss, Dana Point
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To the editor: Reports of the Trump administration’s attempt to strong-arm the pope over the Iran war have a certain irony (“A president and a pope: The world’s most influential Americans are at odds over Iran,” April 10).
In a discussion about the steadfastly anti-communist Vatican’s influence over world affairs, Soviet leader Josef Stalin reportedly derisively declared, “The pope? How many divisions has the pope?” Some 40 years later, Stalin’s empire unraveled in part due to the work of Pope John Paul II. The Polish-born pontiff used his influence to help create the first small cracks in the Soviet bloc that eventually widened under other stresses and led to the fall of the Soviet Union itself.
This just illustrates that soft power used effectively can trump even the most powerful military power.
Pete Skacan, Manhattan Beach