Pope Leo to MAGA: Christians Must Stop Fearing Islam

On his first trip abroad, Pope Leo XIV extols Muslim-Christian friendship — delivering a pointed rejoinder to MAGA pundits who deride compassion as “suicidal empathy.”

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Pope Leo XIV has a clear message for the West: stop fear mongering about Islam.

During a press conference on his flight home from a landmark visit to Turkey and Lebanon this week, the American-born pope urged Christians in Europe and the United States to reconsider their attitudes toward Muslims.

Anti-Muslim sentiment, Leo observed, is “oftentimes generated by people who are against immigration and trying to keep out people who may be from another country, another religion, another race.”

In other words, the pope bluntly tied Islamophobia to the agenda of nationalist agitators who exploit fear of the “other.”

He pointed instead to Lebanon’s example of coexistence: after decades of Christian-Muslim strife, Lebanese communities are finding ways to live together, as friends.

Stories he heard of Christians and Muslims rebuilding each other’s villages after war were, Leo said, “lessons… that we should perhaps be a little less fearful” and more trusting in dialogue.

“Dialogue and friendship between Muslims and Christians is possible,” the pope insisted to reporters.

This direct appeal for courage and openness is the latest in Pope Leo’s running challenge to Western xenophobia. Since his election in May, Leo XIV has not shied away from clashes with the nativist politics of our day.

He has condemned the “inhuman treatment” of migrants under U.S. President Donald Trump and warned that an “exclusionary mindset” is antithetical to Christian values.

The pope argues that the Church “must open the borders between peoples and break down the barriers between class and race” — a far cry from the wall-building rhetoric of MAGA ideologues.

His first apostolic journey abroad put these principles into action: Leo’s open-air Mass in Beirut drew a joyous crowd of Christians and Muslims united in hope for peace.

A Papal Rebuttal to MAGA’s “War on Empathy”

Pope Leo’s call to be “less fearful” of Islam lands as a direct rebuttal to a growing chorus in MAGA world that portrays empathy as a weakness.

In recent months, prominent right-wing voices have launched what even conservatives dub a “war on empathy.”

The most notable protagonist of this nonsense is a man Pope Leo has criticized recently — the richest man on earth.

Here’s what he says, and how Pope Leo is challenging it directly.