Pope Leo XIV says ‘world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants’ as US bishops express support

Pontiff denounces leaders who invoke religion to justify war, after US bishops offer him support after Vance remarks

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Pope Leo XIV has said that the world is being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” who spend billions on war, in comments that will be seen as another sharp escalation in his almost week-long feud with the White House over the US-Israel war on Iran.

The first American-born pontiff did not mention Donald Trump by name, but used his speech in Cameroon on Thursday to denounce world leaders that invoke religion to justify violence against other nations.