Pope Leo rejects claim he supports nuclear weapons after Trump tirade

Pontiff responds after US president accuses him of ‘endangering a lot of Catholics’ with stance on Iran war

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• People in the US: what do you think of Chicago-born Pope Leo?

Pope Leo has said he has never supported nuclear weapons and that those who criticise him need to speak the truth, in response to Donald Trump’s latest tirade accusing him of “endangering a lot of Catholics” with his stance on the Iran war.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday night after leaving the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, the first US-born pontiff said: “The mission of the church is to preach the gospel, to preach peace.”