Pope Leo XIV has said he has no desire to enter into a public quarrel with President Donald Trump, pushing back against suggestions that recent papal remarks on war and peace were intended as a direct rejoinder to the American president. The comments were made during an in-flight exchange with journalists as the Pope travelled from Cameroon to Angola on 18 April, the third stage of his African visit.

Speaking aboard the papal plane, Leo said some coverage of his recent interventions had been distorted by an atmosphere of political commentary that arose after remarks made by Trump at the start of the trip. He argued that too much subsequent reporting had focused on interpreting reactions and counter-reactions, rather than on what he had actually said.

The Pope pointed in particular to his address at a prayer meeting for peace in Cameroon on 16 April. That speech, he said, had been prepared roughly a fortnight earlier, before Trump had made any comments about him or about the peace message he was promoting. Even so, it was later treated as though it had been drafted as part of an ongoing exchange with the US president. Leo said plainly that such a debate was not something he wished to pursue.

Instead, he said, his concern was to continue preaching the Gospel and urging Christians to work for justice, fraternity and peace. He suggested that the principal themes of the journey had been visible throughout the liturgies and public events of the visit, which he described in explicitly pastoral terms rather than political ones.

Leo also situated the trip within a wider spiritual frame. He referred to the opening stage in Algeria, where St Augustine had featured prominently, and said that this had helped express the deeper meaning of the journey. He recalled in particular the blessing of a monument at a Catholic university, depicting Africa with Augustine at its centre, as a symbol of the trip’s wider purpose.

The Holy Father stressed that he had come above all as pastor of the universal Church: to pray with Catholics, strengthen them, and accompany them. He also mentioned his meeting with imams in Cameroon as part of the Church’s continuing commitment to interreligious dialogue and to efforts aimed at mutual understanding and peace.

Later in the exchange, responding to a French journalist, Leo warmly praised the welcome he had received in Cameroon, speaking of the enthusiasm and joy of the people and of the consoling experience of celebrating the faith together. The flight then continued to Luanda, with Angola serving as the penultimate stop of the papal journey through Africa.