Vatican News published this Monday an editorial signed by its editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, in which he maintains that Pope Leo XIV “always speaks as a pastor,” even when addressing issues such as war, immigration or artificial intelligence. The text comes days after the United States Ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, stated that the Pontiff’s assessments of the conflict with Iran should be understood in his capacity as head of state and not as an expression of his magisterium.
The editorial, titled “The Pope’s Word Is Always That of the Pastor”, argues that the fact that the Bishop of Rome is also sovereign of the Vatican City State by virtue of the Lateran Pacts of 1929 does not mean he acts or expresses himself as a political leader when he intervenes on matters affecting humanity.
The Vatican’s Sovereignty at the Service of the Spiritual Mission
Tornielli affirms that the existence of the Vatican City State responds to the need to guarantee the full independence of the Successor of Peter in exercising his spiritual mission and not to the existence of a dual political and religious function.
To support this idea, he cites the address delivered by Saint Paul VI to the United Nations General Assembly on 4 October 1965. In that intervention, the Pontiff explained that the Holy See’s limited temporal sovereignty exists solely to ensure the freedom with which it can carry out its spiritual mission.
“It has no temporal power, nor any ambition to compete with you; we have nothing to ask for, no question to raise; only, if anything, a desire to express and a permission to request: that of being able to serve you in what is given to us to do, with disinterestedness, humility and love.”
The editorial director of Vatican News also recalls words spoken in October 1962 by the then Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, in which he maintained that, after the end of the Papal States, the papacy was able to develop with greater vigor its mission as teacher and witness of the Gospel.
“He Is Not Speaking as Head of State”
The article maintains that “any exaltation or overemphasis of the Pontiff’s role as head of state is misleading,” because it diverts attention from his “only true mission as universal pastor.”
As an example, Tornielli mentions the Pope’s interventions in defense of human life, his appeals for peace and disarmament, the invitation to overcome the concept of “just war,” the recourse to dialogue and negotiation, the defense of the dignity of migrants, attention to the poor, religious freedom and care for creation.
“The Successor of Peter is not speaking as head of state. He is simply proclaiming the Gospel.”
The United States Ambassador’s Statements
The publication of the text comes after Brian Burch, United States Ambassador to the Holy See, gave an interview to The New York Times in which he questioned the scope of the Pope’s statements on the war between Israel, the United States and Iran.
Burch maintained that the Holy See “has neither said nor will definitively declare” whether that conflict constitutes a just or unjust war. According to the diplomat, when the Pope speaks on these issues he does so in his capacity as sovereign of the Holy See, comparable to other heads of state, and not as head of the Catholic Church.
The ambassador added that the Pontiff has limited information about the conflict and that, therefore, he cannot issue a definitive judgment on its legitimacy.
A Publication Interpreted as a Response
Vatican analyst Gerard O’Connell of America Magazine noted that editorials of this scope usually have the approval of the highest authorities of the Holy See and considered that the text was directed at the United States ambassador, although without naming him explicitly for diplomatic reasons.
In the German edition of Vatican News, moreover, the article was illustrated with a photograph showing Leo XIV and Brian Burch together.
Relations Marked by Previous Disagreements
This is not the first time Brian Burch has publicly disagreed with statements by the Pontiff. Since taking office in 2025, after being appointed by President Donald Trump, he has on several occasions defended the positions of the United States Administration regarding some interventions by Leo XIV.
Before assuming the diplomatic post, Burch directed the organization Catholic Vote, close to Trump’s political circle, and was critical of some decisions of the pontificate of Francis. Among other issues, he questioned the removal of American Bishop Joseph Strickland and spoke out against the declaration Fiducia supplicans.
In an interview given to the Italian daily Avvenire, the ambassador stated that there are more points of agreement between Donald Trump and the Pope than are usually perceived. He also said that Leo XIV had personally explained to him that his visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa on 4 July was not intended to be interpreted as a gesture against the United States.
Burch himself also highlighted that on the same day the Pontiff went to dinner at the residence of the United States Ambassador to the Holy See, a visit he described as exceptional in the recent history of diplomatic relations between the two states.