Pope Leo said he believed the United States needed to find “another way” to deal with the situation in Venezuela, warning against any military invasion and saying it would be better to pursue dialogue or apply economic pressure.
“It appears that there may be some activity, even an operation, to invade Venezuelan territory,” Leo, who spent several years in Peru as a missionary and bishop, told reporters on the papal plane returning to Rome from Beirut on Tuesday. “I truly believe it’s better to look for ways of dialogue, maybe pressure, including economic pressure, but other ways of change if that’s what we want in the United States.”
The American pope’s first comments come amid heightened tensions between the United States and Venezuela, with Leo saying church leaders in the South American country were looking for “ways to calm the situation.”
“The voice that comes out of the United States changes with some frequency from time to time, so we have to look at it,” he said, referring to the phone conversation between U.S. President Donald Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Speaking at an in-flight press conference that covered a range of topics, Leo also called on Europe and North America to be “a little less afraid” of immigrants of different faiths. Asked about Catholics in Europe who see Islam as a “threat” to Christianity, Leo said he understands people’s fears, but that fears are often “generated by people who are against immigration and want to keep people out of other countries, other religions, other races.”
Instead, Leo said his visit to Turkey and Lebanon would emphasize that “dialogue and friendship between Muslims and Christians is possible,” and said Lebanon is a country that teaches friendship between Christians and Muslims. He said the lessons from Lebanon “need to be heard in Europe and North America as well. Perhaps we should look for ways to be a little less fearful and foster real dialogue and respect.”
His comments on immigration came less than a week after President Trump said he was considering permanently banning immigration from what he called “Third World countries.”
The Pope also stressed the importance of Europe in developing a peace plan for Ukraine during talks between the US envoy and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday. “It’s clear that there is a part of the US president who thinks he can push through the peace plan that he wants, at least in the first moments, without Europe, but Europe’s presence is important, and even that initial plan changed because of what Europe said.”
Leo also spoke for the first time about how he felt when he was elected pope earlier this year, revealing that “just a year or two ago” the 70-year-old was considering retiring.
“What was that like? You saw how things played out and you accepted the fact that it could happen,” he said. “I took a deep breath and said, ‘Here I go, Lord, You are in charge and You will lead the way.'”
He also said he hoped to visit Algeria soon to follow in the footsteps of the order’s fourth-century founder, St. Augustine, and promote the message of dialogue between Christendom and the Islamic world.
On May 8, 2025, the cardinals of the Catholic Church elected Cardinal Robert Prevost, the first American-born pope in the church’s 2,000-year history. Mr. Leo has adopted the same priorities as his predecessor, but with a more reserved and formal style, leading some to wonder how he will address the church’s big challenges.
Leo spent time with reporters en route to Turkey last week, talking about Wardle, wishing American reporters on the plane a happy Thanksgiving and being handed pumpkin pie. During the six-day trip, he also answered questions from the media twice.
While some people point out his inscrutability, Leo points to one book that helps him understand himself more deeply. The book, titled “Practicing the Presence of God,” was written by Brother Lawrence, a 17th-century Carmelite brother, who said it was the story of a man who “simply gave his life to the Lord and allowed Him to guide him.”
“If you want to know anything about me, it’s my long-standing spirituality,” he said, adding that it helped him during his “years of terrorism” and various missions in Peru.
Leo’s decision to hold a press conference on his way home from Lebanon continues in the footsteps of his predecessors, including Pope Francis, who frequently made notable interventions during in-flight press conferences.
