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Vance tells Pope Leo to ‘be careful’, Homan says ‘leave politics alone’

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by Sophie Brams - 04/15/26 10:57 PM ET

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by Sophie Brams - 04/15/26 10:57 PM ET

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Senior Trump administration officials escalated criticism of the Vatican on Tuesday, with Vice President Vance warning Pope Leo XIV to “be careful” when speaking about theology and White House Border Czar Tom Homan telling him to “leave politics alone.”

Vance, a Catholic, issued the warning while addressing the pope’s opposition to the conflict with Iran and his recent comment that Jesus’s followers are “never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs” during a Turning Point USA event in Athens, Ga.

The vice president said that he liked that the pontiff was an “advocate for peace,” but he should be more cautious when invoking “matters of theology.”

“I think one of the issues here is that if you’re going to opine on matters of theology, you’ve got to be careful. You’ve got to make sure it’s anchored in the truth, and that’s one of the things that I try to do, and it’s certainly something I would expect from the clergy, whether they’re Catholic or Protestant,” he told the crowd.

Homan also fired back at the Pope’s criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration policies on Tuesday, saying during an appearance on Newsmax that he was “disappointed” with the Vatican’s focus on political issues rather than internal ones.

“There are enough problems with the Catholic Church, and I know because I’m a member of the Catholic Church, that they need to fix and concentrate on and leave politics alone,” he said.

It echoed comments Homan made to reporters earlier in the day, in which he said he wished the Church would “stay out of immigration because they don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Vance and Homan’s input comes amid a days-long, highly public clash between President Trump and Pope Leo, after Trump lashed out at the pontiff for opposing U.S. military action abroad and the pope responded with unusually blunt comments.

The pope labeled Trump’s threat to wipe out Iran’s “whole civilization” if Tehran did not come to the negotiating table as “truly unacceptable” last week, prompting the president to write on Truth Social that the pontiff was “WEAK on crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”

Trump also posted an AI-generated image late Sunday that depicted himself as a Jesus-like figure, sparking pushback from lawmakers in both parties, as well as Christian leaders and other figures on the religious right. He later deleted the post, claiming it had been misinterpreted and he thought it portrayed him as a doctor.

On Monday, Pope Leo said he did not fear Trump and would continue to speak out against war, while promoting peace and diplomatic dialogue. He doubled down on that message in comments on Wednesday, after Trump posted another AI-image of himself embracing Jesus.

“We have different beliefs, we have different ways of worshipping, we have different ways of living, we can live together in peace,” he told reporters on the papal plane, according to CNN.

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