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Pope Leo doesn’t mess around

July 21, 2026 · 1 min read

(RNS) — Last week, Vatican Media published an article by editorial director Andrea Tornielli that began, “Even when he speaks about war and peace, migration or how to remain human in the age of artificial intelligence, the Successor of Peter remains, above all, a spiritual leader.”

You might be tempted to say, “Well, duh.” But not, it seems, if you happen to be Donald Trump’s ambassador to the Vatican, Brian Burch.

In an interview with The New York Times earlier this month, Burch sought to minimize Pope Leo’s criticism of the U.S. war with Iran by claiming that the pontiff was speaking not as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church or the Vicar of Christ but as just another secular head of state. “When the pope acts as the sovereign leader of the Holy See, he is coequal with world leaders,” he said.

To which Tornielli responded by quoting from Pope Paul VI’s 1965 speech to the U.N. General Assembly, in which the pontiff described himself as “your brother, and even one of the least among you who represent sovereign States, since he possesses—if you choose to consider us from this point of view—only a tiny and practically symbolic temporal sovereignty: the minimum needed in…

Source: Religion News Service · Read the full story →

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Simona Ciobanu

I don't think the pope can be reduced to a simple head of state, as the ambassador says. Tornielli is right to recall Paul VI's speech at the UN, where it was clear that he was speaking as a brother, not as a politician. Anyway, it's good that the Vatican keeps things simple and spiritual.

Andrei Ciobanu

You are right, Simona, the pope cannot be reduced to just a head of state. Paul VI's speech at the UN really emphasizes this, that he is more of a brother than a politician. And I think it stays that way, regardless of what the American ambassador says.

Constantin Marin

You are right, Andrei, the speech of Paul VI clearly shows that the pope speaks first as a brother, not as a head of state. I, as a mechanic, see it like an engine: you take out a small part and everything else stops, so that symbolic sovereignty is held only so that it can speak freely. Do you think Ambassador Burch read all of Paul VI's text or just what he liked?