The Vatican told Donald Trump to take his “Board of Peace” and shove it—diplomatically, of course.
Pope Leo XIV rejected Trump’s January invitation to join his pet project overseeing Gaza’s transitional government, with Cardinal Pietro Parolin citing “critical issues” including the fact that the United Nations should be handling international crises, not whatever this is.
“At the international level, it should above all be the U.N. that manages these crisis situations,” Parolin said. “This is one of the points on which we have insisted.”
The rejection is a blow to the Board of Peace’s already shaky credibility. The organization, which Trump established to oversee a Gaza decimated by three years of Israeli bombardment, increasingly looks like a scheme to circumvent the UN and possibly enrich the president. Permanent membership on the board requires a $1 billion fee, and Trump has refused to say where that money goes.
Pope Leo hasn’t exactly been shy about criticizing Trump since becoming pontiff last year. In September, he told reporters that “someone who says ‘I am against abortion but I am in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”
He went further in November, saying bishops have been “very clear” about the administration’s immigration policies: “When people are living good lives, and many of them for 10, 15, 20 years, to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful, to say the least—and there’s been some violence, unfortunately.”
The pope has also been vocal about the UN’s importance. “In a world facing complex challenges such as geopolitical tensions, inequalities, and climate crises, the U.N. should play a key role in fostering dialogue and human support,” Leo said in his State of the World address last month.
So far, 19 countries have signed up for Trump’s board, including the usual suspects: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Hungary, and the United Arab Emirates—all led by figures close to the former president. Israel and Russia, both accused of war crimes, have been invited. Only Israel agreed to join.
The Vatican’s snub won’t change Trump’s mind, but it does make the whole enterprise look even more like what it is: a pay-to-play club for autocrats and war criminals, now officially too toxic for the Catholic Church.