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Pope Leo XIV is not only the first U.S. pontiff, he’s also probably the first pope with a family member who supports Donald Trump.
In his first big interview since he was selected to head the Catholic Church in May, Pope Leo admitted he and his brother have different political philosophies.
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One of the pontiff’s two older brothers, Louis Prevost, is a self-admitted “MAGA type” who has shared content on social media attacking Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), as well as the parents of trans kids.
Pope Leo made it clear that he and his brothers are “very close,” but admitted that “one is far on one end politically,” and “we’re in different places.”
The pontiff noted that his brother had met with Trump shortly after Leo became head of the Vatican Church, explaining how much he was willing to get personally involved in the politics of individual nations.
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“One of my brothers has met him and has been very outspoken about his political viewpoints,” Leo said of Trump. “But if or when there were specific issues that, if it were possible to engage with him, I would have no problem doing so. I think there are others who are doing that role fine, and he makes his choices, who he listens to and who he doesn’t listen to.
“But to continue to raise some of the issues, especially about questions of human dignity, of promoting peace in the world, which he at times has made clear he wants to do, in those efforts I would want to support him.”
The pope also discussed a letter that his predecessor Pope Francis sent that had directly attacked Vice President JD Vance’s defense of the deportation program on theological grounds.
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Leo said bishops in the U.S. had been “courageous” in confronting the administration and hoped they would continue similar actions.
“One of the last conversations I had with the vice president of the United States – I have not had direct conversations with or have not met the president – I talked about human dignity and how important that is for all people, wherever you’re born, and hopefully to find ways to respect human beings and the way we treat them in the policies and choices we make,” Leo said.
He also noted that what happens in the U.S. affects the rest of the planet.
“The United States is a power player on the world level, we have to recognize that, and sometimes decisions are made more based on economics than on human dignity and human support, but (we have to) continue to challenge and to raise some questions and to see the best way to do that,” he said.
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Pope Leo has been critical of the Trump administration before.
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In June, he took to X and pointedly attacked the president’s decision to launch strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites ― without mentioning him by name.
“War does not solve problems; on the contrary, it amplifies them and inflicts deep wounds on the history of peoples, which take generations to heal,” Leo wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, or stolen futures. May diplomacy silence the weapons! May nations chart their futures with works of peace, not with violence and bloodstained conflicts!”