It's Not Always About Trump

Some people are reading this line from Pope Leo XIV as a shot at President Trump: "Woe to those who manipulate religion in the very name of God for their own military, economic, or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth."

Friends, he was speaking in Cameroon. His tweet of this sentence includes "#Cameroon." As of 2023, it was estimated that 6,000 civilians there have been killed in a civil war that continues today.

Reuters understands the context, which is why its first paragraph in an article on the speech is:

Pope Leo on Wednesday urged Cameroon's government to root out corruption and resist "the whims of the rich and powerful," in a forceful speech given in the ​presence of President Paul Biya, who has led the country since 1982.

But it still can't resist the urge to shoehorn the pope-vs.-president story into this one, which is why its second paragraph reads:

Leo, who was criticised by U.S. President Donald Trump for a second time during his 10-day ‌tour of four African countries, also called for an end to Cameroon's simmering Anglophone conflict, which has killed thousands.

None of that is false. But it's a bit like saying, "Leo, who ate a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich that morning, also called for an end to the civil war in Cameroon." It's okay for not everything to be about Trump, or even the U.S.