Vatican City - Pope Leo XVI recently called on world leaders to choose peace over war in an Easter message that is widely speculated to be for President Donald Trump.

On Sunday, the pope shared a series of X posts in celebration of Easter, where he also took a moment to address the ills of war.

"Death is always lurking. We see it in violence, in the wounds of the world, in the cry of pain that rises from every corner because of the abuses that crush the weakest among us, because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth's resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys," the pope wrote in one post.

"In the light of Easter, let us allow ourselves to be amazed by Christ! Let us allow our hearts to be transformed by his immense love for us! Let those who have weapons lay them down!" he continued in a follow-up.

"Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace! Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them!" he added.

Pope Leo shared similar remarks while giving a speech from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, where he called on "those who have the power to unleash wars" to instead "choose peace."

While the pope did not mention Trump by name, he has criticized the president's war with Iran directly in recent weeks.

Last week, Pope Leo said he hoped Trump was "looking for an off-ramp" to end the violence, which he said would be "a significant contribution to removing the hatred that's being created" in the Middle East.

Since he entered politics in 2016, Trump has maintained a reputation for being a self-described Evangelical Christian – though when pressed on his faith or interpretations of the Bible, he has consistently avoided going into detail.

Despite this and his long list of legal troubles and accusations of sexual misconduct, Trump has managed to win over the Christian base significantly, many of whom view his faith as their single voter issue.

In his second term, Trump has ramped up efforts to inject Christianity into government, seemingly tossing aside the notion of separation of Church and State.

Perhaps most significantly, he has employed televangelist Paula White-Cain to serve as his personal spiritual advisor and Senior Advisor to the White House Faith Office.

White-Cain has aggressively used the role to raise money for the president and his efforts, and has pushed the idea that Trump is a devout Christian.

During a recent White House event, she compared the president to Jesus Christ himself, and in an interview on Saturday, she claimed the president as a child "went sometimes three times a week to Saturday and Sunday school."

As for the war, Trump has expressed no interest in stopping or toning down the violence, warning in a social media post on Saturday that "all Hell will [rain] down" on Iran in the coming days.