Pope Leo XIV Did Not Make Remarks on Islam, Contradicting No Historical Record

Searches of the quote on Google (archived), Bing (archived) and DuckDuckGo (archived) found no evidence that the pope said the exact words above, but did show that in December 2025 he made a similar statement about how people should be "less fearful" while responding to a question about Catholics who believe Islam is a threat. Earlier in his statement, he said such "fears" are "generated by people who are against immigration and trying to keep out people who may be from another country, another religion, another race."

While the pope attacks America ... be “a little less fearful” of Islam, and this week that “Islam is a religion of peace we can learn from.”...

On the eve of Leo’s flight to Algiers, the European Centre for Law and Justice spotlighted the oppression of Christians in Algeria, stating: “According to the Algerian Constitution, Islam is the state religion, leading the former president of the High Islamic Council to declare that ‘an Algerian can only be Muslim’ (2021).”

In particular, we wish to bring Christians and Muslims together to proclaim to the world that religion must never be a reason for conflict, hatred and violence. In this historic moment, humanity needs to see gestures of peace and to hear words of hope. “As I said 15 years ago, when announcing the meeting of prayer for peace, which was held in Assisi the following October: ‘It is urgent that a common invocation rise to heaven from earth, to beg from Almighty God, in whose hands is the destiny of the world, the great gift of peace, the necessary condition for every serious endeavor at the service of humanity’s real progress’.”

The Pope claims that the Christian creed is based on reason, while the Islamic creed is based on the assumption that the divine will is not compatible with reason or logic. These claims can be refuted by the fact that Muslims have shown rationalism in dealing with their affairs, a truth that a stubborn person can only deny. Allah the Almighty encouraged the use of reason when He said:

While the pope attacks America ... people should be “a little less fearful" of Islam, and this week that “Islam is a religion of peace we can learn from."...

While the pope attacks America for waging war against Islamists, he fails to attack Islamists for their persecution and murder of Christians. He said instead last year that people should be “a little less fearful” of Islam, and this week that “Islam is a religion of peace we can learn from.”

Claims that Pope Leo XIV is soft on Islam or silent on persecuted Christians do not withstand even a basic look at the record

While the pope attacks America ... people should be “a little less fearful” of Islam, and this week that “Islam is a religion of peace we can learn from.”...