House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) gave Pope Leo XIV some advice amid his ongoing feud with President Donald Trump: if you’re going to comment on political matters, “you should expect some political response.”

Johnson weighed in on the Trump-Leo beef while speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.

“Listen, I’m not one to criticize clerics and religious leaders. We defend free speech and we certainly defend the free exercise of religion. And you know, a pontiff or any religious leader can say anything they want,” Johnson said. “But obviously, if you wade into political waters, you should expect some political response, and I think the pope’s received some of that.”

He then took issue with something the pope said during his Palm Sunday address in late March. Pope Leo — while speaking to tens of thousands of Catholics in St. Peter’s Square — said Jesus “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.'”

Johnson on Wednesday said the pope’s biblical interpretation was a bit off:

I was taken a little bit aback, just honestly, frankly, by something that was said. I think he said several days back that something about “Those who engage in war, that Jesus doesn’t hear their prayers,” or something.

It is a very well settled matter of Christian theology, there’s something called the “Just War Doctrine” — there’s “a time to every purpose under heaven.”

I think what the president’s comments [and] what the vice president’s comments reflect is their understanding… the stakes are so high. And the situation that we’re facing and the fact that you had the nation that was the largest sponsor of terrorism now having had that ability taken away from them, that means potentially millions of people will be able to keep their lives and not be killed by terrorists. That’s a good thing.”

He added, “I don’t want to get into a theological debate with the pope, I certainly respect the pope, I would just say that these are matters that people of good faith and good sense can debate.”

Johnson’s answer comes after Trump posted a searing social media rant against the pontiff on April 12, blasting him for being “WEAK” on crime and the issue of a nuclear Iran. The president added he was a bigger fan of the pope’s brother, Louis Prevost, because he is a “big MAGA person.”

Trump’s post followed Pope Leo ramping up his criticism of the Iran war last week.

The pope condemned Trump’s threat to wipe out a “whole civilization” in Iran if its theocratic leaders did not make a deal, calling it “truly unacceptable.” He then spoke out against the war three days later, saying “God does not bless any conflict.

Trump declined to apologize for his post against the pope on Monday, saying “there’s nothing to apologize for. He’s wrong!” He then went off on Pope Leo again late on Tuesday night.

Watch Johnson above via LiveNow From Fox.

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