Catholic bishops and lay leaders across the political spectrum are expressing their shock and disapproval following President Donald Trump’s online screed against Pope Leo XIV.

Pope Leo XIV shared some of his favorite spiritual reading recommendations on the papal flight to Algeria, pointing to a particular letter by St. Augustine that he said provides wonderful tips for how to deepen prayer.

Pope Leo XIV honored the memory of Algeria’s Christian martyrs Monday evening, telling the country’s tiny Catholic community that the blood of those who died for their faith remains “a living seed that never ceases to bear fruit.”

Pope Leo XIV said April 13 he has “no fear” of President Donald Trump’s administration and responded to Trump’s criticism by telling journalists that his message to the U.S. president is “the message of the Gospel: Blessed are the peacemakers.”

Three American cardinals voiced their concerns over the Iran war, mass deportations and more in an interview that aired April 12 on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Algeria on the morning of April 13, becoming the first pope to make an apostolic journey to the North Africa nation, the first stop of the pope’s 11-day, four-country tour of Africa.

President Donald Trump lashed out at Pope Leo XIV on social media and in verbal remarks April 12, calling him “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy,” as tensions escalate in the Mideast.

Warning against an increasingly unpredictable and aggressive “delusion of omnipotence” threatening the globe, Pope Leo XIV called on world leaders and individuals to empty their hearts and minds of hatred and violence, and to start serving life.

Pope Leo XIV will begin his first apostolic journey to Africa on April 13, traveling more than 11,000 miles over 11 days across Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.

The Holy See Press Office issued a statement April 10 disputing a report by The Free Press several days earlier that the Vatican’s top diplomat in the U.S. was brought to the Pentagon in January for a “bitter lecture” about comments from Pope Leo XIV that some senior U.S. defense officials perceived as criticism of the Trump administration.