VATICAN CITY, US News: Pope Leo XIV on Monday delivered an unusually direct appeal to President-elect Donald Trump, strongly cautioning against any United States military intervention in Venezuela and urging Western nations to show less fear toward immigrants fleeing hardship.
The pontiff’s statement, released by the Holy See Press Office, comes as speculation mounts that the incoming Trump administration is considering a range of aggressive options to confront the government of Nicolás Maduro, including tightened sanctions and, according to some reports, contingency planning for limited military involvement.
In his address from the Apostolic Palace, Pope Leo XIV declared that “the path of war is never the solution to political crises” and warned that armed action in Venezuela would carry “grave consequences for peace throughout the Americas.”
“The Venezuelan people have already endured immense suffering,” the Pope said. “To their burdens we must not add the horrors of conflict. I make this earnest plea to leaders who hold great power in their hands: choose dialogue, choose solidarity, choose peace.”
While the Vatican statement avoided naming Trump directly, it referred pointedly to “those preparing to take office in the new year,” a phrase immediately understood by diplomats and political observers as addressing the president-elect.
Pope Leo XIV also used the occasion to call on wealthy countries, including the United States, to adopt a more welcoming stance toward migrants. “Let us be less afraid of those who come knocking at our doors in search of safety and hope for their children,” he said.
The White House transition team has not yet issued a response to the Pope’s remarks.
The intervention marks an early and forceful entry by the Vatican into what is expected to be one of the most contentious foreign policy debates of Trump’s second term. Relations between the Holy See and the first Trump administration were often tense, particularly on immigration and humanitarian issues.
Analysts note that Pope Leo XIV’s swift public statement reflects the Vatican’s determination to remain an influential voice on matters of war, peace, and human dignity as the new U.S. administration prepares to take power on January 20.
The Pope’s warning has already generated intense reaction across social media platforms and cable news networks, with supporters hailing it as courageous moral leadership and critics arguing that the Holy See should refrain from commentary on sovereign national security decisions.
As inauguration day approaches, Venezuela policy remains a closely watched test for the direction of American foreign policy under the incoming administration.
