EU Parliament invites Pope Leo XIV to address plenary session

The president of the European Parliament on Wednesday said the legislature had invited Pope Leo XIV to address an upcoming plenary session.

"Pope Leo XIV is not only the shepherd of the Roman Catholic flock across the globe, but a symbol of moral courage and clarity in a time where such compasses are increasingly needed," Roberta Metsola said in a post on US social media company X.

Metsola said the pope's voice is respected "by Europeans of all faiths - and none."

"On behalf of the European Parliament, I reached out to the Holy See to reaffirm our invitation for the Holy Father to address an upcoming Plenary Session of the European Parliament," she added.

"We hope to welcome him in the near future and listen to his message for Europe," she said.

The invitation came after US President Donald Trump criticized the Italian prime minister over her remarks expressing solidarity with the pope, whom Trump has previously targeted over his foreign policy stance.

On Tuesday, Trump said he was "shocked" that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni "doesn't want to help us in the war" against Iran.

His remarks to Corriere della Sera followed Meloni's criticism of Trump's reaction to the pope's opposition to the war in Iran as "unacceptable."

"She (Meloni) does not care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if she had the chance," Trump claimed.

The pope has repeatedly expressed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, describing conditions as "unacceptable" amid the ongoing Israeli genocide that began in October 2023, and has also spoken out against the US-Israeli war on Iran.