Rome —
On Tuesday night at a windy Castel Gandolfo, I asked Pope Leo XIV a question. With war potentially escalating in the Middle East, I wanted to know if he had a message for President Donald Trump and other leaders of the United States and Israel.
His answer was telling. The first American pope spoke in English and said he hoped Trump would find an “off-ramp” to end the war with Iran. He called for an end to the violence and for leaders to negotiate.
It’s rare for popes to cite world leaders by name, and this is one of the first times Leo has cited Trump publicly. His answer pointed to how the war is weighing heavily on him, and he spoke in a language that would be heard and…