Pope Leo XIV meets U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican, May 7, 2026. Vatican Media/Simone Risoluti/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY
MAGA Republicans are vehemently attacking Pope Leo the 14th in response to a diplomatic award given to Iran's ambassador. But according to political insider Christopher Hale, who publishes Letters to Leo, and other experts on Vatican traditions, they are taking the award way out of context and overlooking some key facts.
Hale, in a May 13 post on X, explains, "MAGA is falsely attacking Pope Leo XIV again this morning after news emerged that the first U.S.-born pontiff gave Iran's Ambassador to the Holy See a diplomatic award. However, by itself, the award is not unusual. By Vatican custom, the Grand Cross is ordinarily conferred on resident ambassadors to the Holy See after roughly two years in post, and Mokhtari presented his credentials to Pope Francis in December 2023 — two and a half years before Cardinal Parolin signed this certificate."
The U.S. in Holy See account offers further explanation on X, emphasizing that Iran isn't getting any type of special honor from the Vatican.
According to U.S. in Holy See, "Contrary to news reports, Pope Leo has not bestowed an exclusive special honor on the Iranian Ambassador to the Holy See. This decoration is given to all accredited ambassadors to the Holy See after 2+ years of service and has been standard practice for many years. It is a personal recognition and does not imply support or opposition to any policy or country. Thirteen ambassadors were recently given this recognition. Previous U.S. ambassadors have all received the same. Finally, the decoration was not given in person by the pope."
Nonetheless, plenty of attacks on Pope Leo are coming from far-right MAGA Republicans.
Erin Brophy tweeted, "Leo is doing Lucifer's bidding at this point... confers the Vatican's highest honor to the ambassador of the Iranian regime that slaughtered 40,000 of their own people."
MAGA Republican DawnTheColoradan posted, "Pope Leo IS NOT A MAN OF GOD! Awarding vile Satanists horrifically torturing and murdering innocent Iranians is the work of the devil."
Another MAGA Republican, Summer, claimed, "Pope Leo just gave the IRGC regime's ambassador the Vatican’s highest diplomatic honor and praised their 'peace efforts.'"