Key figures in Italy leap to Pope Leo support as Meloni slammed for not criticising Trump

NewsWorldEuropeKey figures in Italy leap to Pope Leo support as Meloni slammed for not criticising TrumpItaly’s prime minister, who has cultivated close relations with Trump in recent years, issued a statement backing Leo but failed to criticise the US presidentCrispian Balmer Monday 13 April 2026 18:43 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2956843","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/trump-as-the-pope-italy-meloni-b2956843.html","title":"Key Italian figures leap to Pope’s support as Meloni’s ties to Trump are tested"}}CloseTrump says the Pope is wrong and doesn't deserve at apologyOn The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_On_The_Ground_Newsletter","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/onTheGround1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveOnTheGround","regSourceSection":"Europe","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"}}Italian political an...