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President Donald Trump's Sunday night social media attack on Pope Leo XIV suggests that the president views religion as a "political cudgel" rather than an instrument of peace, Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester said Monday.

Trump on Sunday unleashed a lengthy post criticizing the pope as "WEAK on crime, and terrible for foreign policy," and calling on Pope Leo to end his criticisms of the president's military actions in Iran and Venezuela.

"The pope has every right to speak about peace and dialog and discussion to solve our problems rather than going to war or using power or might or violence," Wester said Monday in a phone interview.

"If people don't want to hear it, that's their prerogative," Wester said. "But the pope has the obligation and the responsibility to proclaim the Gospel in the public square, and he does it well.”

Wester also said Trump's 334-word social media tirade, posted at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, "was filled with falsehoods and unsubstantiated accusations" such as his comments that Pope Leo is "Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons."

"It all boils down to ... whether you view religion through the lens of power or through the lens of morality," Wester said. "Religion is not meant to be a political cudgel. It's meant to be an invitation to respond to God's love for us by loving God and loving our neighbor and all that that implies."

Wester also said Pope Leo has shown his support for peace as a former missionary who spent more than two decades in Peru. "I think his life certainly indicates that his ministry is one that is dedicated to peace."

The first U.S.-born pope has become a vocal critic of the Iran war and used his Easter message to called on leaders to "abandon every desire for conflict, domination and power."

Trump told reporters outside the Oval Office on Monday that he would not apologize for his attacks on Pope Leo, saying "I'm just responding to Pope Leo. There's nothing to apologize for. He's wrong."

Wester is one of many Christian leaders who has pushed back against Trump's attack, including Pope Leo himself. On his flight to Algeria on Monday, Pope Leo told journalists, "I have no fear of the Trump administration speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I am here to do, what the Church is here to do. I don't want to get into a debate with Trump."

Wester said Pope Leo's criticism appears to be getting under the president's skin.

"I think the president's post kind of indicates that perhaps the pope is getting to the heart of the matter, and the president doesn't like that," Wester said, suggesting that Pope Leo's comments are making Trump "feel a little uncomfortable and defensive."

"I guess certain people, when they think they're the center of the universe, they think everything revolves around them. But that's just not true," he said.

Olivier Uyttebrouck covers the court system. You can reach him at olivier@abqjournal.com.