Pope Leo urged U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday not to try to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro using military force.

Recent public remarks by Pope Leo XIV reveal his ‘strong concern’ about moves by the United States to use force against Venezuela. On his return flight from Lebanon, he said that the U.S. should not attempt a military ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro — instead urging diplomacy or economic pressure. The Roman Catholic Church has a long history of supporting Socialist and Communist countries where Catholicism is the dominant religion.

“And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” Revelation 18:2 (KJB)

Daring Washington to make its next move, desperate dictator Maduro has rejected Donald Trump‘s ultimatum to step down and flee the country. It comes as the US president held crisis talks with his top generals and is preparing for a classified US Navy briefing on Thursday. At a rally in the capital, the tyrant cast himself as a besieged patriot, telling supporters Venezuela was ready “to defend the country and lead it to the path of peace” as the US weighs land strikes. He said: “We have lived through 22 weeks of aggression that can only be described as psychological terrorism.”

Pope Leo urges US not to attempt military ouster of Venezuela’s Maduro

FROM REUTERS: Leo, the first U.S. pope, said it would be better to attempt dialogue or impose economic pressure on Venezuela if Washington wants to pursue change there. The Trump administration has been weighing options to combat what it has portrayed as Maduro’s role in supplying illegal drugs that have killed Americans. The socialist Venezuelan president has denied having any links to the illegal drug trade.

Asked during a news conference about Trump’s threats to remove Maduro by force, Leo said: “It is better to search for ways of dialogue, or perhaps pressure, including economic pressure”.

The pope, speaking as he flew home from a visit to Turkey and Lebanon, his first overseas trip, added that Washington should search for other ways to achieve change “if that is what they want to do in the United States”.

Reuters reported last month that options under U.S. consideration include an attempt to overthrow the Venezuelan leader, and that the U.S. military is poised for a new phase of operations after a massive military buildup in the Caribbean and nearly three months of strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats off Venezuela’s coast. Leo, answering a journalist’s question, also said the signals coming from the Trump administration about its policy toward Venezuela were unclear.

“On one hand, it seems there was a call between the two presidents,” said the pope, referring to a phone call that Trump had with Maduro last month. “On the other hand, there is the danger, there is the possibility there will be some activity, some (military) operation.”

“The voices that come from the United States, they change with a certain frequency,” added Leo. The pope, elected in May and originally from Chicago, is familiar with Latin America because he spent long years as a cleric in Peru. READ MORE

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

• HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

More than 11 US warships, including the country’s largest carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, are bearing down on the Caribbean amid escalating tensions between President Trump and Venezuela.

More than Saudi Arabia, more than Iran, and more than every other nation, Venezuela sits upon the largest known oil reserves that exist anywhere on this Earth. Venezuela has 303 billion barrels of proven crude, but under Maduro’s socialist collapse, those reserves are basically locked away. A military intervention would place that oil under a new “friendly” government — or under direct U.S. strategic influence. Washington has wanted this for decades. Every administration knew it. Trump is going to be the one to take it. Oil is energy, and energy is power. That’s the memo.

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Matthew 24:7 (KJB)

On our Podcast today, our main story was about Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and his fervent denial that he had ordered a ‘second strike’ on the ‘narcoterrorists’ gunboat. He said “As usual, the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting.” A few hours after the Podcast wrapped, President Trump issued the announcement that yes, Hegseth had absolutely ordered the second strike that brutally killed the survivors of the first strike. Can you say ‘war crime’? And before anyone can be brought to trial, Trump will have already given the order for the US military to invade Venezuela. Is Trump really so concerned about stopping the drug trade that has been going on for over a century? Nope. He wants the oil, and he’s going to invade them to get it, because that’s what the people who hit his right ear with that warning shot last summer have told him to do.

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11 US warships and 15,000 troops now in Caribbean as Venezuela tensions escalate

FROM THE NEW YORK POST: A Marine Expeditionary Unit capable of an amphibious land invasion has also been deployed as part of efforts to stem the flow of drugs into the US from the socialist country.

“The military’s job is to defend the homeland,” Secretary of the Navy John Phelan told Fox News on Saturday night. “That’s exactly what we’re doing, and we’re using our best assets to defend the homeland. Drugs kill more Americans than we’ve ever lost in wars,” he said. “So I think at the end of the day, the president has correctly identified this as an attack on the country, which it is.” Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, is being blamed for allowing narco vessels to set off from his country for US.

JUST SAY NO. Listen as Congresswoman Maria Salazar tells you that Venezuela sits upon the largest known oil reserves on Planet Earth, and that Trump is going to take it. And oh, almost forgot, let’s stop the drugs, too, said no one ever. WWIII, anyone? pic.twitter.com/hyrl152ZlK

— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) December 2, 2025

Among the 11 warships currently in the Caribbean is the USS Ford, which houses the Carrier Strike Group featuring nine carrier air wings, or more than 70 aircraft, including squadrons out of Virginia, Florida and Washington state. Other ships deployed to the region include the USS Iwo Jamia, a Wasp-class amphibious assault vehicle capable of carrying up to six Harrier II attack aircraft.

The USS Gravely and the USS Stockdale, two naval guided-missile destroyers, are currently operating in the Caribbean along with the larger guided-missile cruisers, the USS Lake Erie and the USS Gettysburg.

Up to 2,200 Marines, based out of Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Base New River in North Carolina, are also stationed in the Caribbean. In total, around 15,000 troops, including the Marines on ships and about 5,000 personnel at bases in Puerto Rico, are now in the region, the Conversation reported. Roosevelt Roads naval base in Puerto Rico has been reopened as part of the buildup.

The growing firepower is part of Trump’s Operation Southern Spear, which aims, with support of the Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security, to control the flow of deadly narcotics heading north to the US. It coincides with efforts to modernize US armed forces using AI, unmanned systems and hypersonic missiles, as well as a push from Trump to bring shipbuilding jobs back to America. READ MORE

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

• HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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“He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” Psalm 24:5 (KJB)

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Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

• HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB