REUTERS, Algiers

Pope Leo blasted violations of international law by “neocolonial” world powers in a forceful speech yesterday during an Africa tour, hours after US President Donald Trump’s direct attack on the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Church.

Leo is travelling to Africa “as a witness to the peace and hope that the world so ardently desires,” he told political leaders in Algeria, his first stop on a whirlwind four-nation trip.

“The future belongs (to) those who do not allow themselves to be blinded by power or wealth,” the first US pope said. “Africa knows all too well that people and organizations that dominate others destroy the world.”

Leo, originally from Chicago, did not single out specific countries for criticism, but he has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war in recent weeks and decried the “madness of war” in a peace appeal on Saturday.

Trump, in an apparent response to the pope’s statements about the conflict and the White House’s hard-line immigration policies, said late on Sunday that Leo was “terrible”, in remarks that drew immediate rebuke from US believers.

Leo told Reuters on the papal flight from Rome to Algiers yesterday morning that he planned to continue speaking out against war, despite Trump’s comments.

“I don’t want to get into a debate with him,” said the Pope. “I will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships.”

Leo is undertaking one of the most complicated papal trips arranged in decades. It will take him to 11 cities and towns across Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, traversing nearly 18,000 km (11,185 miles) over 18 flights.