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A growing divide between the White House and the Vatican is putting President Donald Trump at odds with Pope Leo, after Trump sharply criticized the pontiff while the leader of the Catholic Church has emphasized he does not want a direct debate. Pope Leo is the first American to lead the Catholic Church, leaving America's Catholics in a difficult spot.
The conflict with Iran began on February 28 with U.S. and Israeli air strikes. At a White House briefing, President Trump explained why the conflict started.
“Iran killed 42,000 people that were totally unarmed. They were protesters. They cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Pope Leo’s reaction to the conflict was quick and focused on a call for peace. He has continued to emphasize that message. “Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say, there's a better way to do this,” Pope Leo said.
San Antonio’s San Fernando Cathedral is one of the oldest Catholic churches in the nation. In a city with more than a million Catholics, people gathered outside its limestone facade shared their views on the conflict and the exchange of words between Trump and Pope Leo.
San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, who leads Catholics across the region, has defended the pope’s stance, calling it a reflection of “the message of the Gospel” and a call for peace, reconciliation and diplomacy.
Attorney John Young was heading to the courthouse but stopped to give his opinion.
“I'm not terribly religious myself. I am a Roman Catholic, but not terribly religious,” Young said.
He has strong opinions about both of the key players.
“I'm somewhat colored by the fact that our president has made what I see as comments, many, many times, illogical, self-contradictory, all of those things,” he said.
That dynamic has also played out on social media, where Trump briefly posted and later deleted what appeared to be an image depicting himself as Jesus, drawing criticism and adding to tensions. Pope Leo, for his part, has downplayed the back-and-forth, saying, “I don't want to get into a debate with him.”
Young’s opinion on the Pope, though, was more nuanced.
“And the Pope being the Pope, you know, he has clear moral authority to make comments on how other world leaders behave,” Young said.
George Terrell stopped by and noted that he respects both the President and the Pope.
“We're all brothers and sisters in Christ, and we need to come together to resolve this and work together,” Terrell said.
Asked what people can do about this major conflict in Iran, and the dispute between the President and Pope Leo, he had one suggestion.
“With a prayer. I think that's all we can do at this point, is prayer,” Terrell said.
Navigating around a nearby construction site, TJ Mayes was visiting the church. He is a former Presbyterian, and he and his Baptist wife are in the process of converting to Catholicism.
“We as a family are deciding what our faith journey is going to look like. We went to Rome over the Christmas break and were very inspired by that,” he said.
Mayes was aware of the limitations of any given leader, but he hopes President Trump begins to think in more humanitarian terms.
“I think the Pope is trying to appeal to our own better angels, and religion is aspirational and is not as bound by the practical realities of politics in some regards,” he said.
Daniel Cedillo was waiting for a bus when we spoke to him. He has a very direct way of putting things.
“When you annihilate people that's violating human rights,” Cedillo said.
He’s clearly not a supporter of the conflict.
“It's a huge humanitarian issue, and that's the business of the church,” he said.
“President Trump should listen to those kinds of moral issues, because he's going to be accountable for that,” Cedillo said.
Asked if he thought accountability had more to do with votes or salvation, he said:
“He's accountable to God above everything else.”
