Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope and a native of Chicago’s South Side, repeatedly advocated after his selection last year for the release of the Israeli hostages.

The remarks mark the most explicit papal admission to date of institutional responsibility, going beyond Pope Francis's condemnation of modern-day slavery.

Amirizadeh's comments to the 'Post' came after Pope Leo bestowed a special honor on the Iranian ambassador to the Holy See, along with several other diplomats, for their years-long service.

Rubio met Pope Leo at the Vatican amid growing tensions after Trump repeatedly criticized the pontiff over his opposition to the Iran war.

Responding to Trump's latest attack later on Tuesday, Leo said he wanted to spread the Christian message by speaking about peace, but that people were free to criticize him.

"When a regime... takes away the lives of other people unjustly, then obviously that is something that should be condemned," Pope Leo said during a press conference.

Pope Leo has criticized US President Donald Trump's actions against Iran in multiple instances, leading to a social media squabble between the two leaders.

That speech, said Leo, "was prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting."

The Jew as victim is acceptable. The Jew as memory is acceptable. But the Jew who acts, who fights, and who refuses to wait for permission becomes a problem.

TIME editor-at-large Ian Bremmer wrote that the PM "once faced the political wasteland" after Hamas's Oct. 7 massacre, but has now engineered a "political comeback" that "may have exceeded Trump's."