Pope Leo has said that the world is being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” amid a deepening row over the war in Iran with US President Donald Trump.
Speaking on a visit to Cameroon, the pontiff blasted leaders who spend billions on wars in unusually forceful remarks.
Leo, the first American pope, also decried leaders who used religious language to justify wars and urged a “decisive change of course”.
“The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild,” the pontiff said.
“They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found.”
The pontiff sharply criticised leaders who invoked religious themes to justify wars, saying: “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”
He said the world had “turned upside down” and that said that it is an “exploitation of God’s creation that must be denounced and rejected by every honest conscience.”
Pope Leo made similar remarks last month when he said that God rejected the prayers of leaders with “hands full of blood”, which were widely interpreted as an attack on US defence secretary Pete Hegseth who has used Christian language to justify the ongoing war in Iran.
He has emerged as an outspoken critic of Trump’s war in Iran, which has sparked fighting across the Middle East and a global economic crisis.
Trump has in turn attacked the Pope, calling him “WEAK on crime and terrible for foreign policy” on Truth Social.
The US president attacked him again on social media late on Tuesday, and on Wednesday Trump posted an image of Jesus embracing him, after an earlier image he posted that portrayed him as a Jesus-like figure prompted widespread criticism.
JD Vance then sparked further controversy when he warned the Pope, the most visible leader of Christianity in the world, that he should “be careful when he talks about theology”, saying: “How can you say that God was never on the side of those who wield the sword?”
Leo spent nearly 50 years working in the church, including as a priest, missionary and cardinal, before being elected pontiff last year – becoming the first pope to be born in the United States.
The UK’s Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, said on Thursday that she stood with Pope Leo in his “courageous call for a kingdom of peace”.
His comments in Cameroon come amid an ongoing conflict in the country where more than 6,500 people have been killed and more than half a million displaced in fighting between government forces and anglophone separatist groups, according to the International Crisis Group.
Priests are frequently kidnapped and held for ransom while some have been killed, according to Reuters.
It was announced that a three-day ceasefire would be observed during the Pope’s visit, allowing civilians and visitors to move freely around the country.
The pontiff expressed optimism, despite the fact that efforts to broker a peace deal have largely proved ineffective so far, saying he was heartened that the conflict “has not degenerated into a religious war” and that Christian and Muslim leaders could mediate an end to the fighting.
Urging the government of the Central African nation to root out corruption and resist the “whims of the rich and powerful” arriving in the capital Yaounde on Wednesday, his presence in the country has stirred hopes that steps could be taken to resolve the conflict there.
