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Vice President JD Vance invoked World War II on Tuesday to defend the U.S. bombing of Iran from criticism by Pope Leo XIV, extending the Trump administration\u2019s spat with the Catholic Church and underlining the White House\u2019s struggle to justify an unpopular war.<\/p>\n
Mr. Vance, who is Catholic, told a conservative audience at the University of Georgia that the pope was wrong to say<\/a> that disciples of Christ are \u201cnever on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWas God on the side of the Americans who liberated France from the Nazis?\u201d Mr. Vance said after referring to the pope\u2019s comment. \u201cI certainly think the answer is yes.\u201d<\/p>\n President Trump has appeared stung by Leo\u2019s condemnation of the war, criticism that has highlighted the challenge the administration faces from the coalition of conservative and religious voters who helped elect Mr. Trump in 2024. The president lashed out at the pope<\/a> on Sunday in a social media post that called the first American-born pontiff \u201cweak on crime\u201d and \u201cterrible for foreign policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Leo has stuck to his antiwar stance, telling reporters Monday that he had \u201cno fear of the Trump administration.\u201d Without mentioning Iran or Mr. Trump, the pope posted<\/a> on social media on Tuesday that \u201cGod\u2019s heart is torn apart by wars, violence, injustice and lies.\u201d<\/p>\n The back-and-forth has presented a particular quandary for Mr. Vance, a convert to Catholicism who is publishing a book about his path to the faith and who has long courted the Republican religious base. Asked about the debate between Mr. Trump and the pope at an Athens, Ga., event hosted by the conservative group Turning Point USA, Mr. Vance admonished Leo, saying that if he was \u201cgoing to opine on matters of theology,\u201d his comments needed to be \u201canchored in the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn the same way that it\u2019s important for the vice president of the United States to be careful when I talk about matters of public policy, I think it\u2019s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,\u201d Mr. Vance said.<\/p>\n