Pope Leo XIV delivered a diplomatic rebuke to President Donald Trump on Monday, February 16, 2026, declining an invitation to join the administration’s controversial Board of Peace as the Vatican raised concerns that the initiative could undermine the United Nations.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State and top diplomatic official, announced the Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace because of its particular nature, which is evidently not that of other States.” The decision landed just two days before the board’s first formal meeting in Washington on Thursday.
The pope, who leads 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, was invited to join the board in January as Trump expanded the initiative beyond its original purpose of supervising Gaza’s temporary governance. The president chairs the board with sweeping veto power and sole authority to invite nations, positioning the body as a vehicle to tackle global conflicts and coordinate Gaza’s reconstruction following Israel’s devastating assault.
“One concern is that at the international level it should above all be the UN that manages these crisis situations,” Parolin told reporters. “This is one of the points on which we have insisted.”
The Vatican’s rejection represents a significant diplomatic setback for Trump, who first unveiled the Board of Peace plans last fall and formally established the body last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the decision “deeply unfortunate,” defending the administration’s ambitious reconstruction vision for Gaza.
“I don’t think that peace should be partisan or political or controversial,” Leavitt said. “This is a legitimate organization where there are tens of member countries from around the world.”
Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope in history, has emerged as a prominent critic of several Trump administration policies since assuming the papacy. He has repeatedly decried conditions in Gaza, where Israel’s assault has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians according to health officials, caused a hunger crisis and internally displaced the territory’s entire population. Multiple rights experts, scholars and a U.N. inquiry say the assault amounts to genocide, though Israel maintains its actions constitute self-defense following the Hamas-led attack that killed approximately 1,200 people.
The fragile Gaza truce, which began on October 10, has been repeatedly violated. Israeli strikes have killed more than 590 Palestinians and wounded over 1,600 since the ceasefire took effect, while three Israeli soldiers have also been killed. The Board of Peace has been pushing Hamas to disarm and coordinating reconstruction efforts, with Trump announcing $5 billion in commitments from board members toward rebuilding.
The Vatican’s concerns about the board mirror anxieties expressed by numerous Western allies. Italy and the European Union plan to send representatives to Thursday’s meeting as observers but have not joined the board. France, Denmark, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom have either declined invitations or expressed deep skepticism about the initiative.
Rights experts have criticized the board’s structure, noting that Trump overseeing a panel to supervise a foreign territory’s affairs resembles a colonial arrangement. The board has also faced criticism for lacking meaningful Palestinian representation. Trump maintains sole power to issue vetoes and invite countries onto the panel, with his tenure as chair having no apparent limit—the charter states he can serve indefinitely even after leaving office.
The board’s administrative center operates from the recently renamed Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, formerly the U.S. Institute of Peace. Russia, China and Turkey have been invited to participate, though Russia announced this week it would not attend Thursday’s summit. While some Middle Eastern allies have joined, most Western nations have stayed away amid concerns the board could undermine the U.N. system.
The Vatican’s diplomatic service is extensive, and the Holy See maintains status as a permanent observer at the United Nations. The pope rarely joins international boards, preferring to work through established diplomatic channels and the U.N. framework.
A senior Trump administration official told reporters the Pope and Vatican “are welcome to join the many other nations who are committed to the Board of Peace,” though the official declined to discuss details of diplomatic conversations.
Thursday’s meeting will focus on Gaza’s reconstruction as the territory struggles with widespread devastation. The ceasefire framework, endorsed by U.N. Security Council Resolution 2803, envisions the Board of Peace overseeing Gaza’s demilitarization and temporary governance, though the initiative’s long-term viability faces headwinds given the limited buy-in from Western democracies.
The Vatican’s refusal to participate highlights growing international tensions over how to manage the Gaza crisis and whether Trump’s new body will complement or compete with traditional multilateral institutions like the United Nations. With Pope Leo XIV joining the chorus of skeptics, Trump’s Board of Peace confronts an uphill battle for legitimacy among traditional Western allies.
