The Pope's Compassion For The People Of Iran

Africa is a reservoir of joy and hope for the whole world. Its young people and its poor still dream; they hope still; they do not settle for what already exists. They desire to rise up again, to prepare for great responsibilities, to put themselves on the line personally. The…

— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) April 18, 2026

Each person finds joy in making the most of their relational abilities, realizing they contribute to the common good and finding recognition as a unique and dignified person, within a community of encounters that multiply and expand the spirit. Without joy there is no renewal;…

— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) April 18, 2026

The Pope's stance on the Iran war should not be seen through the tiny binary of political discourse. Is the war the only option? No. Has everything possible been done before the war option was taken? Not at all. The biggest miss has been from the Iranian diaspora.

And I say all this based on this spiritual clarity on Islam:

Islam is the anti-religion. Islam is the religion of the Devil. Allah is not God. Allah is the Devil having distorted who or what God is. God is omnipotent. Allah, as described in the Koran, is not. Allah does not seem to have the power to enter human history, for example. There is no historical Muhammad. Runners run. Swimmers swim. Prophets prophecy. That is what they do. Isaiah was a prophet. Some of his prophecies are still coming true today. What prophecies have been attributed to Muhammad? There are none.

The Devil has managed to sell the Muslims the Brooklyn Bridge. Most Muslims think Allah is God. Allah is not God. Those who seek peace should do their best to help Muslims attain spiritual clarity on Islam.

But the Mahabharata and the Ramayana tell us that the truly evil do not reason. The truly evil fight to the finish. The last two ages ended with a war, as will this one. The way the forces of good minimize death and destruction is by attaining and helping attain spiritual clarity on Islam, and preparing for the war. An overwhelming force to minimize death and destruction when war becomes inevitable.

The Devil's way is tyranny. How did Islam enter Iran? Become Muslim or die. That is how. How does Iran stay Muslim? Stay Muslim or die. That is how. Utter tyranny.

There are no more wars in the next age. The next age has been vividly described in the Book of Isaiah.

So if the Muslims are human beings who have been led astray by the Devil into thinking Allah is God, then this is squarely in the Pope's domain. He has spent a lifetime separating sin from sinners. His compassion for the people of Iran is not misplaced.

Even at this juncture, I am wondering as to why the Iranian diaspora is not doing all it can do.

I wish to encourage those who have already chosen goodness, justice, peace, tolerance, and reconciliation. Together with millions of men and women of good will, I call for the conversion of those who choose adverse paths that hinder harmonious and fraternal development.…

— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) April 18, 2026

I am very grateful to the people of #Cameroon for your welcome and for the moments of joy and faith which we have experienced together. Let us keep the memory of these beautiful moments alive in our hearts. Even in the midst of difficulties, let us continue to make space for…

— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) April 18, 2026

When we seem to be sinking, overcome by adverse forces, when everything appears bleak and we feel alone and weak, Jesus is always with us, stronger than any power of evil. In every storm, He comes to us and repeats: “I am here with you: do not be afraid.” With Him, we can get up…

— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) April 18, 2026

8: Pope Leo

The Impending Doom of Trump’s Trade War We’re in a phony-war period of Trump’s trade conflict. Things appear fine on the surface, but look closely and plenty of signs of impending trouble are emerging. It’s still early enough that if Trump rolls back his tariffs on China and reaches deals with other U.S. trading partners, the damage will be limited. Stock-market investors seem convinced that Trump will come to his senses and make this happen, and it’s certainly in America’s best interest that he does so. But if the deals prove elusive and the tariff war escalates amid beggar-thy-neighbor tactics, economic reality will assert itself........ Container-ship arrivals in L.A. this week will be down 35 percent year over year. ........ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week that Trump’s exorbitant tariffs have created an effective “embargo” on Chinese goods. The steep decline in imports from China will translate into even less demand for trucking within the U.S. by the end of this month, which will almost certainly lead to layoffs in that industry. Depending on where a product is made, we’ll see empty shelves in some stores by the end of June, and that could lead to layoffs in retail as well. ......... And Trump has acknowledged this with his odd riffs on how American kids might have to make do with three expensive dolls rather than 30 cheap ones, or with five pencils rather than 250—which one Republican pollster has called a “Marie Antoinette” moment. ........ American exporters are already feeling the effect of other countries’ retaliatory tariffs. That’s especially true of U.S. farmers, who lost tens of billions of dollars in sales thanks to Trump’s trade war with China during his first term (and were made whole only thanks to a hefty bailout). Those farmers are already facing a renewed wave of canceled orders, to the point that the head of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, an export-trade group, told CNBC that farmers are in a “full-blown crisis” as their sales nosedive. This not only is leading to job cutbacks in agriculture but also means that container-ship departures, as well as arrivals, are falling at U.S. ports. That will put the jobs of dock workers, warehouse workers, and truckers in further jeopardy. ....... a cascading effect: weaker demand leading to lower sales, triggering more layoffs, leading to still lower demand, and so on. ....... No investor or business person should be all that surprised if Trump went back to his Liberation Day rates and continued to try to strong-arm China, which would almost certainly send the U.S. economy into a self-inflicted, utterly unnecessary recession. The markets are betting that the phony war will never become a real one.

Before he was elected pope, Leo XIV was critical of Trump, Vance on social media "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others."....... In 2015, Prevost posted a link to a Washington Post opinion piece titled "Cardinal Dolan: Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic." ........ Francis clashed repeatedly with Trump and Vance, particularly over the administration's immigration policies. He was critical of their plans to deport millions of migrants from the U.S., as well as widespread cuts to foreign aid and domestic welfare programs. ........ Vance was one of the last officials to see Francis before his death. A day before passing away at age 88, the pope hosted the U.S. vice president at the Vatican. ........ Trump in a post on Truth Social had earlier celebrated the first-ever election of an American as pontiff.

Manchin slams West Virginia move to ban ranked-choice voting “Ranked choice voting gives voters more say and rewards candidates who appeal to a majority, not just a base,” he said. “Banning it while trying to close primaries sends one clear message: some politicians don’t want to compete, they just want control.”