VATICAN CITY (AP) 鈥� Inappropriate. Ridiculous. Absurd. Visitors to the Vatican on Tuesday had some choice words for after his harsh criticism of for his calls to soften the rhetoric of war.
The at the extraordinary clash between the U.S.-born pope and the American president. 鈥渨eak鈥� and captive to the 鈥渞adical left鈥欌�� on social media this week, after the pope called Trump鈥檚 threats toward Iran
At the Vatican, visitors had Leo鈥檚 back while he’s away on a
鈥淚t鈥檚 just ridiculous, because if the pope is not speaking about peace, and is not taking care about every people in the world, he鈥檚 not the pope,鈥欌�� said Joerg Soler, who was visiting the Vatican from Switzerland.
鈥淚t鈥檚 completely inappropriate,鈥欌�� said Mariella Acciaioli, a French tourist. 鈥淭hings are getting too much. We need to mobilize everyone, especially our leaders, to deal with this behavior that is going beyond every limit.鈥�
U.S. tourist Paul Sarauskas expressed disbelief at Trump鈥檚 unprecedented broadside, calling it “absurd.”
鈥淚 think he needs to keep his nose out of religion. He鈥檚 telling the pope what to do. He鈥檚 telling the pope how to do his job,鈥欌�� Sarauskas said. 鈥淲here the pope just wants to do good things, right? He wants to talk about peace, about helping other people, whereas the current administration is doing something completely opposite. They鈥檙e just tearing people apart. They鈥檙e talking about division and war and hate.鈥�
Trump clearly expected the American pope to be 鈥渟ubservient鈥� to the United States, said Italian journalist Massimo Franco, who has a new book, 鈥淧opes, Dollars and Wars,鈥欌�� about U.S.-Vatican relations.
鈥淎 pope must be a pope. He must respond to a wider community. And if he sees that Trump鈥檚 policy risks to give a distorted view of the United States, I think the pope is helping the United States as well, not just the United States, to find the right path,” Franco said.
The Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a prominent Italian Jesuit theologian and undersecretary to the Vatican鈥檚 Dicastery for Culture and Education, said Trump鈥檚 fury 鈥渁gainst a moral voice鈥� shows that 鈥渢he president is powerless.鈥�
鈥淗e can鈥檛 bring the pope to the same terrain where he has brought everyone else, where he can dominate with language,鈥欌�� Spadaro told Italian Radio 24.鈥滻n this sense, the moral force of the church is evident. It is not a counter-power but a space in which power is being judged by criteria that power itself cannot control.鈥�
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