More than a month after Pope Leo XIV stepped into his role as the new pope in May 8, 2025, a quote attributed to him that many claimed was a dig at U.S. President Donald Trump continued to circulate online. The alleged quote read:
You cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings. A leader who mocks the weak, exalts himself, and preys on the innocent is not sent by God. He is sent to test you. And many are failing.
Although the claim spread on multiple platforms (archived, archived), users most widely shared one Facebook post (archived) with more than 43,000 reactions, as of this writing, from May 2025:
One Threads post (archived) appeared on the internet on May 14, 2025. It is unclear whether this was the original post, but we have not found an earlier one as of this writing.
(Threads user @feliciamlopes)
We reached out to both the Instagram account @feliciamlopes and the official Holy See Press Office for verification or comment, and will update this story if we receive a response from either party.
There is no evidence Pope Leo XIV publicly said the quote in question. A Google search of the words "Pope Leo 'you cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings'" revealed only social media posts featuring the graphic above or attributing the quote to Pope Leo XIV without any evidence.
(Google.com)
The official Vatican news site also did not yield any results, and no reputable news outlet reported the alleged quote.
In sum, there is no evidence social media users correctly attributed the quote to Pope Leo XIV; the exact origins of the quote are unknown. Because of this, the claim is incorrectly attributed.