News/Commentary

Pope Leo meddles in politics, urges Trump not to oust Maduro

December 3, 2025 | | Print Article

A question on America’s intent found Pope Leo sounding off against the Trump administration anew, where it concerns the future of Nicolás Maduro’s regime.

Months into his tenure on the throne of Saint Peter, the pope has found little success staying out of the politics of his home country. Having served up mixed messages on open borders and defended the “overall work” of Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin (D) despite the lawmaker’s advocacy for abortion, Pope Leo addressed attempts to “calm the situation” as he opposed U.S. military operations to oust the Venezuelan dictator.

Returning from his overseas trip that marked the 1700 anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the pope was heard offering responses in English, Italian, and Spanish to questions that included a reporter raising President Donald Trump’s ultimatum to Maduro, calling for his resignation with a “threat to remove him by a military operation. What do you think about this?”

Speaking in Spanish, the Vatican translated the Holy Father’s response, “Regarding Venezuela, at the level of the Bishops’ Conference and with the Nuncio, we are trying to find a way to calm the situation, seeking above all the good of the people, because in these situations it is the people who suffer, not the authorities.”

“The signals coming from the United States change, and so we must see … On the one hand, it seems there has been a telephone conversation between the two presidents; on the other hand, there is this danger, this possibility, that there could be an action, an operation, including an invasion of Venezuelan territory,” expressed the pontiff. “I again believe it is better to seek dialogue within this pressure, including economic pressure, but looking for another way to bring about change, if that is what the United States decides to do.”

As had been reported, amid ongoing strikes against boats suspected of ferrying “narco-terrorists” and drug shipments to the United States, Trump took to Truth Social over the weekend and asserted, “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”

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Additionally, at the close of his cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the president was asked if Maduro had offered to leave, prompting Trump to respond, “He will.”

The pope’s position that world leaders seek out peaceful resolutions to conflicts wasn’t what troubled many so much as a perception that he has been selective on the issues on which he has opined.

Some found disappointment in how Pope Leo had addressed myriad examples of Christians being slaughtered in nations across the world, while others, as border czar Tom Homan had himself suggested in November, urged the leader of the Catholic Church to make its own controversies a priority.

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Kevin Haggerty
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