Trump’s 'pope derangement syndrome' has him flailing in the face of 'God's messenger'
Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on May 8, 2025 (Marco Iacobucci Epp/Shutterstock.com)
President Donald Trump is suffering from what one expert on Catholicism called "pope derangement syndrome," causing him to lash out against "God's messenger" Pope Leo XIV with bitter, politically charged jabs due to his fundamental misunderstanding of the role.
James V. Grimaldi is the Pulitzer Prize-winning former executive editor of The National Catholic Reporter. On Tuesday, he published a piece in the New York Times calling out Trump's recent feud against the pope and accusing him of "missing the point" when it comes to the pontiff's actual role within the church.
Leo, who ascended to the head of the Catholic Church last year following the passing of Pope Francis, has emerged as something of a thorn in the side of the MAGA movement due to his statements calling for the humane and compassionate treatment of immigrants, among other issues. Most recently, his opposition to armed conflicts has drawn the ire of Trump amid his spiraling with Iran, prompting the president to lash out against him in a Sunday Truth Social post, bafflingly accusing the pope of being "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy."
This latest escalation also came on the heels of a bombshell report revealing that the Pentagon had seemingly threatened military action against the Vatican in response to Leo's comments.
In his piece, Grimaldi stressed, as many have, that Leo's comments are not driven by partisan antipathy for Trump and MAGA, but rather by an accurate interpretation of Catholic teachings. He also noted that the cardinals who elected him last year did so with an eye to "the future in terms of the unity and strength of the Roman Catholic Church," not because they were "designating a foil for Mr. Trump."
"Pope Leo’s statements aren’t partisan barbs; they are expressions of his understanding of the Gospel and Catholic social teaching," Grimaldi explained. "For Mr. Trump to respond to them as potshots or challenges to his authority reflects a misplaced obsession with the pope and a misunderstanding of his role as the spiritual leader of more than a billion Catholics worldwide — call it pope derangement syndrome."
He continued: "For many Catholics, myself included, Leo’s words make us proud of our faith and thankful to have a pope who isn’t afraid to clearly and powerfully articulate a vision of what we consider morally and scripturally right, even if — or especially if — the church’s teaching clashes with the views of a president. But that’s not necessarily because we are Democrats or disaffected Republicans (I am neither), nor because we’re reflexively anti-Trump. It’s not because we secretly hope Leo was elected to hector the president. It’s because we Catholics believe that the pope is the Vicar of Christ, in essence God’s messenger on earth. It only follows that he would proclaim God’s message, particularly when it matters most, regardless of the political fallout."
Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on May 8, 2025 (Marco Iacobucci Epp/Shutterstock.com)
April 14, 2026
ALTERNET
President Donald Trump is suffering from what one expert on Catholicism called "pope derangement syndrome," causing him to lash out against "God's messenger" Pope Leo XIV with bitter, politically charged jabs due to his fundamental misunderstanding of the role.
James V. Grimaldi is the Pulitzer Prize-winning former executive editor of The National Catholic Reporter. On Tuesday, he published a piece in the New York Times calling out Trump's recent feud against the pope and accusing him of "missing the point" when it comes to the pontiff's actual role within the church.
Leo, who ascended to the head of the Catholic Church last year following the passing of Pope Francis, has emerged as something of a thorn in the side of the MAGA movement due to his statements calling for the humane and compassionate treatment of immigrants, among other issues. Most recently, his opposition to armed conflicts has drawn the ire of Trump amid his spiraling with Iran, prompting the president to lash out against him in a Sunday Truth Social post, bafflingly accusing the pope of being "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy."
This latest escalation also came on the heels of a bombshell report revealing that the Pentagon had seemingly threatened military action against the Vatican in response to Leo's comments.
In his piece, Grimaldi stressed, as many have, that Leo's comments are not driven by partisan antipathy for Trump and MAGA, but rather by an accurate interpretation of Catholic teachings. He also noted that the cardinals who elected him last year did so with an eye to "the future in terms of the unity and strength of the Roman Catholic Church," not because they were "designating a foil for Mr. Trump."
"Pope Leo’s statements aren’t partisan barbs; they are expressions of his understanding of the Gospel and Catholic social teaching," Grimaldi explained. "For Mr. Trump to respond to them as potshots or challenges to his authority reflects a misplaced obsession with the pope and a misunderstanding of his role as the spiritual leader of more than a billion Catholics worldwide — call it pope derangement syndrome."
He continued: "For many Catholics, myself included, Leo’s words make us proud of our faith and thankful to have a pope who isn’t afraid to clearly and powerfully articulate a vision of what we consider morally and scripturally right, even if — or especially if — the church’s teaching clashes with the views of a president. But that’s not necessarily because we are Democrats or disaffected Republicans (I am neither), nor because we’re reflexively anti-Trump. It’s not because we secretly hope Leo was elected to hector the president. It’s because we Catholics believe that the pope is the Vicar of Christ, in essence God’s messenger on earth. It only follows that he would proclaim God’s message, particularly when it matters most, regardless of the political fallout."
‘I Will Continue to Speak Out Strongly Against War,’ Says Pope Leo in Face of Trump Abuse
“The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’”
Pope Leo XIV gestures during a visit at the Maqam Echahid Martyrs’ Monument in El Madania, near Algiers on April 13, 2026.
(Photo by Alberto Pizzoli / Pool / AFP via Getty Images)
Brad Reed
Apr 13, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Pope Leo XIV on Monday said he would not back off his criticism of President Donald Trump’s war of choice in Iran after the president targeted him with an unhinged late-night social media rant.
In a Sunday Truth Social post, Trump accused Pope Leo of being “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” even though dealing with crime and running US foreign policy are not part of the pope’s job description.
“Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician,” Trump wrote at the conclusion of his long tirade. “It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!”
A short time later, Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated image that depicted him as a Christ-like figure.
Pope Leo in recent weeks has been openly critical of the US war in Iran, taking particular issue with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claiming that the conflict was being waged in the name of Jesus Christ.
“This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” the pope said during a Palm Sunday sermon last month. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
According to a Monday report from the Associated Press, the pope remained defiant in the face of criticism from the president.
“The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers,’” he said. “I will not shy away from announcing the message of the Gospel and inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation, and looking for ways to avoid war any time that’s possible.”
Leo added that he is “not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel,” and insisted that “I will continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems.”
Trump’s attack on the pope drew a rebuke from Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who said it was reflective of a presidency circling the drain.
“ Donald Trump is flailing,” Kelly wrote in a social media post. “His war in Iran has led to the death and injury of American servicemembers and the death of Iranian children. He will attack anyone or anything to try to protect himself, even the Church that millions of Americans find faith and comfort in every day.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal suggested that Trump’s anti-pope rant was more evidence that he is mentally unwell and should be removed from office.
“The deranged and disgusting post from Trump attacking Pope Leo should certainly help him appeal to the more than 50 million Americans who identify as Catholics,” she wrote. “Perhaps this will convince JD Vance to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office?”
Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was “disheartened” that Trump “chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father.”
“Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the pope a politician,” Coakley added. “He is the vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”
The Rev. James Martin said he doubted Pope Leo “will lose any sleep over” Trump’s rant, but added “the rest of us should” because “it is unhinged, uncharitable, and unchristian.”
“The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’”
Pope Leo XIV gestures during a visit at the Maqam Echahid Martyrs’ Monument in El Madania, near Algiers on April 13, 2026.
(Photo by Alberto Pizzoli / Pool / AFP via Getty Images)
Brad Reed
Apr 13, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Pope Leo XIV on Monday said he would not back off his criticism of President Donald Trump’s war of choice in Iran after the president targeted him with an unhinged late-night social media rant.
In a Sunday Truth Social post, Trump accused Pope Leo of being “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” even though dealing with crime and running US foreign policy are not part of the pope’s job description.
“Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician,” Trump wrote at the conclusion of his long tirade. “It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!”
A short time later, Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated image that depicted him as a Christ-like figure.
Pope Leo in recent weeks has been openly critical of the US war in Iran, taking particular issue with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claiming that the conflict was being waged in the name of Jesus Christ.
“This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” the pope said during a Palm Sunday sermon last month. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
According to a Monday report from the Associated Press, the pope remained defiant in the face of criticism from the president.
“The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers,’” he said. “I will not shy away from announcing the message of the Gospel and inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation, and looking for ways to avoid war any time that’s possible.”
Leo added that he is “not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel,” and insisted that “I will continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems.”
Trump’s attack on the pope drew a rebuke from Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who said it was reflective of a presidency circling the drain.
“ Donald Trump is flailing,” Kelly wrote in a social media post. “His war in Iran has led to the death and injury of American servicemembers and the death of Iranian children. He will attack anyone or anything to try to protect himself, even the Church that millions of Americans find faith and comfort in every day.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal suggested that Trump’s anti-pope rant was more evidence that he is mentally unwell and should be removed from office.
“The deranged and disgusting post from Trump attacking Pope Leo should certainly help him appeal to the more than 50 million Americans who identify as Catholics,” she wrote. “Perhaps this will convince JD Vance to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office?”
Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was “disheartened” that Trump “chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father.”
“Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the pope a politician,” Coakley added. “He is the vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”
The Rev. James Martin said he doubted Pope Leo “will lose any sleep over” Trump’s rant, but added “the rest of us should” because “it is unhinged, uncharitable, and unchristian.”
'I thought she was brave': Trump turns on Italian ally over Pope criticism
Tom Boggioni
April 14, 2026
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has played host to a slew of foreign leaders, most recently Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, as he prepares to take office (Filippo ATTILI/AFP)
Donald Trump has turned on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, publicly denouncing her as "unacceptable" for defending Pope Leo XIV against the president's criticism of his unprovoked Iran war.
According to Politico, Trump spoke directly with Italian daily Corriere della Sera to express his fury with Meloni's refusal to join his attack on the first American-born Pope who resides in Vatican City.
"I was shocked by her. I thought she was brave, but I was wrong," Trump said in the phone interview, delivering a stinging personal rebuke to an ally he had publicly praised just a year earlier.
When confronted with Meloni's Monday statement calling Trump's criticism of Pope Leo "unacceptable," the president responded with characteristic vindictiveness:
"It's her who's unacceptable, because she doesn't care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance."
Trump's grievance extends beyond the Pope dispute. He complained that Meloni expected the United States to "do the work for her" by protecting Italy from nuclear threats and ensuring stable oil supplies — suggesting she should be grateful for American military protection rather than criticizing his policies.
The deterioration of their relationship is striking. Trump noted the two hadn't spoken "in a long time," a stark contrast to just last year when Meloni visited Mar-a-Lago as Trump's guest. At that dinner, he called her "a fantastic woman" who had "really taken Europe by storm."
The rupture exemplifies Trump's pattern of discarding allies the moment they show independence from his agenda — a warning sign for other world leaders considering whether solidarity with the American president is worth the political cost.
Tom Boggioni
April 14, 2026
RAW STORY
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has played host to a slew of foreign leaders, most recently Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, as he prepares to take office (Filippo ATTILI/AFP)
Donald Trump has turned on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, publicly denouncing her as "unacceptable" for defending Pope Leo XIV against the president's criticism of his unprovoked Iran war.
According to Politico, Trump spoke directly with Italian daily Corriere della Sera to express his fury with Meloni's refusal to join his attack on the first American-born Pope who resides in Vatican City.
"I was shocked by her. I thought she was brave, but I was wrong," Trump said in the phone interview, delivering a stinging personal rebuke to an ally he had publicly praised just a year earlier.
When confronted with Meloni's Monday statement calling Trump's criticism of Pope Leo "unacceptable," the president responded with characteristic vindictiveness:
"It's her who's unacceptable, because she doesn't care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance."
Trump's grievance extends beyond the Pope dispute. He complained that Meloni expected the United States to "do the work for her" by protecting Italy from nuclear threats and ensuring stable oil supplies — suggesting she should be grateful for American military protection rather than criticizing his policies.
The deterioration of their relationship is striking. Trump noted the two hadn't spoken "in a long time," a stark contrast to just last year when Meloni visited Mar-a-Lago as Trump's guest. At that dinner, he called her "a fantastic woman" who had "really taken Europe by storm."
The rupture exemplifies Trump's pattern of discarding allies the moment they show independence from his agenda — a warning sign for other world leaders considering whether solidarity with the American president is worth the political cost.
Ex-GOP insider reveals why Trump’s AI Jesus keeps him up at night: 'He wants your worship'
Nicole Charky-Chami
April 14, 2026
RAW ST0RY
Former Republican strategist Rick Wilson shared just why President Donald Trump's decision to share an image of himself posed as Jesus "raising someone who looks a lot like Jeffrey Epstein from the dead," troubles him.
The co-founder of The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump organization, discussed in his Substack on Tuesday why Trump's latest move was not only unsettling, but analyzed just how "the entire scam" has played out among MAGA and Christian followers who supported Trump.
"Now, it’s been a minute since Divinity class, but I know my Bible well enough to know that what we’re looking at here is either the greatest act of accidental self-own in the history of organized religion, or, and bear with me here, a slow-roll confirmation of the one prophecy nobody in MAGA land bothered to read before slapping on the red hat," Wilson wrote.
"He might be the Antichrist," Wilson wrote. "And I mean that with exactly as much comedy and as much genuine theological dread as you think I do."
Trump's rise to power was propped up by a number of supporters, including the religious right.
"Trump has been sold to evangelicals (and a damn good percentage of Catholics) as America as a vessel of divine providence," Wilson explained. "The man with three wives, the hush money, the Epstein mess, the whores, the sexual abuse, the porn stars, the casinos, the fraud judgments, the scams and rip-offs, the gleeful cruelty, this is the man God chose."
MAGA was convinced Trump was essentially their guy, Wilson argued.
"That’s the pitch. With a straight face. From pulpits. Joel Osteen has several private jets and a house the size of Rhode Island because he and others like Franklin Graham sold you this guy. Think on that," Wilson wrote.
But the meme that sparked public outrage this week has led to more revelations about who Trump really is — and what he really desires, according to Wilson.
"Here’s the thing about the Jesus meme that keeps me up at night, not the blasphemy of it (though, sure, that too), but the demand it represents. The man doesn’t just want your vote. He wants your worship. He wants to be the thing you kneel before. He has always wanted that," Wilson added.
April 14, 2026
RAW ST0RY
Former Republican strategist Rick Wilson shared just why President Donald Trump's decision to share an image of himself posed as Jesus "raising someone who looks a lot like Jeffrey Epstein from the dead," troubles him.
The co-founder of The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump organization, discussed in his Substack on Tuesday why Trump's latest move was not only unsettling, but analyzed just how "the entire scam" has played out among MAGA and Christian followers who supported Trump.
"Now, it’s been a minute since Divinity class, but I know my Bible well enough to know that what we’re looking at here is either the greatest act of accidental self-own in the history of organized religion, or, and bear with me here, a slow-roll confirmation of the one prophecy nobody in MAGA land bothered to read before slapping on the red hat," Wilson wrote.
"He might be the Antichrist," Wilson wrote. "And I mean that with exactly as much comedy and as much genuine theological dread as you think I do."
Trump's rise to power was propped up by a number of supporters, including the religious right.
"Trump has been sold to evangelicals (and a damn good percentage of Catholics) as America as a vessel of divine providence," Wilson explained. "The man with three wives, the hush money, the Epstein mess, the whores, the sexual abuse, the porn stars, the casinos, the fraud judgments, the scams and rip-offs, the gleeful cruelty, this is the man God chose."
MAGA was convinced Trump was essentially their guy, Wilson argued.
"That’s the pitch. With a straight face. From pulpits. Joel Osteen has several private jets and a house the size of Rhode Island because he and others like Franklin Graham sold you this guy. Think on that," Wilson wrote.
But the meme that sparked public outrage this week has led to more revelations about who Trump really is — and what he really desires, according to Wilson.
"Here’s the thing about the Jesus meme that keeps me up at night, not the blasphemy of it (though, sure, that too), but the demand it represents. The man doesn’t just want your vote. He wants your worship. He wants to be the thing you kneel before. He has always wanted that," Wilson added.
Daniel Hampton
April 14, 2026
RAW STORY
A post on U.S. President Donald Trump's Truth Social account depicts an AI-generated image of himself apparently as Jesus posted on April 12, 2026. @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social/Handout via REUTERS
A prominent conservative Catholic columnist at The New York Times is sounding the alarm for President Donald Trump's religious base, warning that his escalating blasphemy is a harbinger of things to come that true believers should not ignore.
Ross Douthat, a conservative Catholic opinion writer who is not known for being a Trump critic, wrote Tuesday that the president's weekend social media rampage — which included a profanity-filled Easter post, an attack on Pope Leo XIV, and an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ — represents something far more serious than typical Trumpian excess.
"The compounding offense isn’t against religious identity or papal dignity. It’s a violation of the first and second commandments, where the offended party is Almighty God," Douthat wrote Tuesday.
Douthat was careful to acknowledge that popes are not infallible on political matters, and that conservative Catholics have legitimate grievances with the Vatican's leftward tilt. But he argued that Trump has simply never made a coherent moral case for the Iran war, leaving the pope with a valid reason to call it unjust.
In a striking passage, Douthat directly addressed Trump's believing supporters.
"If you are a secular observer who assumes that blasphemy is a sin without a real object, that escalation matters mostly as a window into the president’s second-term state of mind.
"If you’re a believer, though, then Mr. Trump’s entire political career — his catalyzing role in liberalism’s crisis, his movement from power to exile to power once again — exists under providential power. In which case a turn to presidential blasphemy is a warning for his religious supporters about potential conclusions to the story, and the spiritual peril of simply sticking with him till the end."
A post on U.S. President Donald Trump's Truth Social account depicts an AI-generated image of himself apparently as Jesus posted on April 12, 2026. @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social/Handout via REUTERS
A prominent conservative Catholic columnist at The New York Times is sounding the alarm for President Donald Trump's religious base, warning that his escalating blasphemy is a harbinger of things to come that true believers should not ignore.
Ross Douthat, a conservative Catholic opinion writer who is not known for being a Trump critic, wrote Tuesday that the president's weekend social media rampage — which included a profanity-filled Easter post, an attack on Pope Leo XIV, and an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ — represents something far more serious than typical Trumpian excess.
"The compounding offense isn’t against religious identity or papal dignity. It’s a violation of the first and second commandments, where the offended party is Almighty God," Douthat wrote Tuesday.
Douthat was careful to acknowledge that popes are not infallible on political matters, and that conservative Catholics have legitimate grievances with the Vatican's leftward tilt. But he argued that Trump has simply never made a coherent moral case for the Iran war, leaving the pope with a valid reason to call it unjust.
In a striking passage, Douthat directly addressed Trump's believing supporters.
"If you are a secular observer who assumes that blasphemy is a sin without a real object, that escalation matters mostly as a window into the president’s second-term state of mind.
"If you’re a believer, though, then Mr. Trump’s entire political career — his catalyzing role in liberalism’s crisis, his movement from power to exile to power once again — exists under providential power. In which case a turn to presidential blasphemy is a warning for his religious supporters about potential conclusions to the story, and the spiritual peril of simply sticking with him till the end."
Trump is alienating America’s 'biggest religious swing voters'
Photo by Pedro Lima on Unsplash
Photo by Pedro Lima on Unsplash
April 15, 2026
ALTERNET
When John F. Kennedy Sr. won the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960, many political journalists wondered if U.S. voters would elect a Catholic president. But JFK narrowly defeated the Republican nominee, then-Vice President Richard Nixon, by less than 1 percent but won the electoral vote 303-219.
Sixty years later, in 2020, devout Catholic Joe Biden defeated incumbent President Donald Trump by roughly 5 percent in the popular vote and 306-232 in the Electoral College. Now, in 2026, Vice President JD Vance, is a convert to Catholicism, and Catholics dominate the U.S. Supreme Court.
Moreover, Protestant candidates actively court Catholic voters. But in a biting opinion column published on Wednesday, April 15, The Guardian's Arwa Mahdawi argues that President Trump's attacks on Pope Leo XIV could alienate Catholic voters and become a political liability for Catholic Vance (who was raised Protestant).
"On Sunday, (April 12), Trump, who identifies as a nondenominational Christian, attacked the Pope on Truth Social, calling him 'WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,'" Mahdawi observes. "Shortly after, the president posted, and later deleted, an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure anointing the forehead of a man who looked vaguely like a skinny Jeffrey Epstein…. 'Blessed are the peacemakers,' Leo said on Monday, when asked about Trump's comments. 'I'm not afraid of the Trump Administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel.'"
Mahdawi notes that the "majority of Catholics," according to polls, "disapprove of Trump's handling of the war on Iran."
"Alienating Catholics is not the smartest move: they are the U.S.' biggest religious swing voters," Mahdawi argues. "They largely voted for Biden in 2020, but, in 2024, Trump won the group by a 10- to 20-point margin. Unless he makes good on his threat to run for an unconstitutional third term, Trump doesn't have to worry about courting the Catholic vote again himself, but he hasn't made life easy for his Catholic vice-president, JD Vance, who is generally seen as Trump's successor. Vance has been very quiet about all this, causing Denise Murphy McGraw, the national co-chair of Catholics Vote Common Good, to call him out and state that silence is complicity."
The liberal Guardian columnist continues, "Vance broke his silence on Fox News on Monday, saying, 'It would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality.… and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy.' I know you're desperate for your boss' job, JD, but I think it would be best for American public policy if there were a little less dictating and a little more morality."
When John F. Kennedy Sr. won the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960, many political journalists wondered if U.S. voters would elect a Catholic president. But JFK narrowly defeated the Republican nominee, then-Vice President Richard Nixon, by less than 1 percent but won the electoral vote 303-219.
Sixty years later, in 2020, devout Catholic Joe Biden defeated incumbent President Donald Trump by roughly 5 percent in the popular vote and 306-232 in the Electoral College. Now, in 2026, Vice President JD Vance, is a convert to Catholicism, and Catholics dominate the U.S. Supreme Court.
Moreover, Protestant candidates actively court Catholic voters. But in a biting opinion column published on Wednesday, April 15, The Guardian's Arwa Mahdawi argues that President Trump's attacks on Pope Leo XIV could alienate Catholic voters and become a political liability for Catholic Vance (who was raised Protestant).
"On Sunday, (April 12), Trump, who identifies as a nondenominational Christian, attacked the Pope on Truth Social, calling him 'WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,'" Mahdawi observes. "Shortly after, the president posted, and later deleted, an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure anointing the forehead of a man who looked vaguely like a skinny Jeffrey Epstein…. 'Blessed are the peacemakers,' Leo said on Monday, when asked about Trump's comments. 'I'm not afraid of the Trump Administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel.'"
Mahdawi notes that the "majority of Catholics," according to polls, "disapprove of Trump's handling of the war on Iran."
"Alienating Catholics is not the smartest move: they are the U.S.' biggest religious swing voters," Mahdawi argues. "They largely voted for Biden in 2020, but, in 2024, Trump won the group by a 10- to 20-point margin. Unless he makes good on his threat to run for an unconstitutional third term, Trump doesn't have to worry about courting the Catholic vote again himself, but he hasn't made life easy for his Catholic vice-president, JD Vance, who is generally seen as Trump's successor. Vance has been very quiet about all this, causing Denise Murphy McGraw, the national co-chair of Catholics Vote Common Good, to call him out and state that silence is complicity."
The liberal Guardian columnist continues, "Vance broke his silence on Fox News on Monday, saying, 'It would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality.… and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy.' I know you're desperate for your boss' job, JD, but I think it would be best for American public policy if there were a little less dictating and a little more morality."
Ex-Fox News host on Trump's Jesus post: 'Maybe he thinks he's a really important figure'
Robert Davis
April 13, 2026
Robert Davis
April 13, 2026
RAW STORY
A political analyst was stunned on Monday after President Donald Trump retreated from his religious snafus over the weekend.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday that Pope Leo XIV is "weak" on crime and foreign policy, and that Trump "doesn't want" a Pope who criticizes him or his administration's war with Iran. Trump also posted, and then deleted, a photo of himself appearing as Jesus Christ while healing a man lying on a bed. Both posts generated significant criticism from analysts and lawmakers.
Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox News anchor, discussed the posts on "Erin Burnett OutFront" on Monday.
Burnett asked Carlson why she thought Trump made the posts.
"The first thing that came to me was because the Pope is more popular," Carlson said. "And in fact, today, right here on CNN, you showed a poll where the approval rating of Pope Leo in America is very high, and the approval rating of Donald Trump currently is low. And that is sort of what makes Trump click on a daily basis, he tends to take his ill feelings out on people who are more popular or who he deems to be having more success at the time."
Carlson added that she was surprised Trump received so much backlash from the posts.
"With regard to getting into religion, do I think it's going to have any impact? Probably not," Carlson said. "In normal times, I would have said yes, but he's gotten away with so much else. He makes fun of disabled people. He makes fun of people with autism. He made fun of Michelle and Barack Obama as apes. I'm actually surprised he took the post down."
"I'm not so sure that he doesn't totally think that he is some sort of really, really important figure," she added. "And maybe he had no understanding that it would have this kind of backlash."
A political analyst was stunned on Monday after President Donald Trump retreated from his religious snafus over the weekend.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday that Pope Leo XIV is "weak" on crime and foreign policy, and that Trump "doesn't want" a Pope who criticizes him or his administration's war with Iran. Trump also posted, and then deleted, a photo of himself appearing as Jesus Christ while healing a man lying on a bed. Both posts generated significant criticism from analysts and lawmakers.
Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox News anchor, discussed the posts on "Erin Burnett OutFront" on Monday.
Burnett asked Carlson why she thought Trump made the posts.
"The first thing that came to me was because the Pope is more popular," Carlson said. "And in fact, today, right here on CNN, you showed a poll where the approval rating of Pope Leo in America is very high, and the approval rating of Donald Trump currently is low. And that is sort of what makes Trump click on a daily basis, he tends to take his ill feelings out on people who are more popular or who he deems to be having more success at the time."
Carlson added that she was surprised Trump received so much backlash from the posts.
"With regard to getting into religion, do I think it's going to have any impact? Probably not," Carlson said. "In normal times, I would have said yes, but he's gotten away with so much else. He makes fun of disabled people. He makes fun of people with autism. He made fun of Michelle and Barack Obama as apes. I'm actually surprised he took the post down."
"I'm not so sure that he doesn't totally think that he is some sort of really, really important figure," she added. "And maybe he had no understanding that it would have this kind of backlash."
MTG squirms as CNN throws her previous claims about 'Jesus' Trump back in her face
Robert Davis
April 13, 2026
CNN screenshot
Former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene squirmed on CNN after anchor Kaitlan Collins asked her about previous comments where she compared President Donald Trump to Jesus Christ.
Greene joined Collins on CNN's "The Source" on Monday, where the two discussed Trump's most recent controversial social media posts. In one post, Trump called the Pope "weak" on crime and foreign policy. In the other, Trump posted an AI-generated photo of himself appearing as Jesus Christ healing a sick man in bed.
Trump doubled down on his comments about the Pope on Monday, but said he failed to recognize the clearly Christian iconography in the AI-generated photo.
Collins reminded Greene that she had once compared Trump to Jesus because they both were arrested, and played a clip of her saying it.
Greene seemed uncomfortable as she responded.
"We were talking about people being prosecuted unfairly by weaponization of government, political prosecutions, things such as the political protesters," Greene said. "That's what I was referring to there. I wasn't talking trying to portray [Trump] as Jesus. I think that was completely different."
'Showed great respect': Mike Johnson praises Trump over 'sacrilegious' Jesus post
Robert Davis
April 13, 2026
RAW STORY
CNN screenshot
Former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene squirmed on CNN after anchor Kaitlan Collins asked her about previous comments where she compared President Donald Trump to Jesus Christ.
Greene joined Collins on CNN's "The Source" on Monday, where the two discussed Trump's most recent controversial social media posts. In one post, Trump called the Pope "weak" on crime and foreign policy. In the other, Trump posted an AI-generated photo of himself appearing as Jesus Christ healing a sick man in bed.
Trump doubled down on his comments about the Pope on Monday, but said he failed to recognize the clearly Christian iconography in the AI-generated photo.
Collins reminded Greene that she had once compared Trump to Jesus because they both were arrested, and played a clip of her saying it.
Greene seemed uncomfortable as she responded.
"We were talking about people being prosecuted unfairly by weaponization of government, political prosecutions, things such as the political protesters," Greene said. "That's what I was referring to there. I wasn't talking trying to portray [Trump] as Jesus. I think that was completely different."
Trump voter tells MS NOW he's appalled after seeing Jesus picture: 'I'm ashamed'
Tom Boggioni
April 14, 2026
Tom Boggioni
April 14, 2026
RAW STORY
Alex Tabet interviews Trump voter (MS NOW screenshot)
Attempts by Donald Trump to put out the firestorm he created by posting a meme picture of himself as Jesus on Truth Social seems to be flopping, MS NOW is reporting.
On Monday the president defended the picture, which had been taken down, claiming that he was being portrayed as a doctor, but in interviews on the street, self-identified Christians and Catholics uniformly criticized the president when shown a printout of the picture, with one Trump voter claiming he was “ashamed.”
Speaking with Anna Cabrera from in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, reporter Laura Haefeli told the host, “One thing is clear is this could actually cost him possibly the Catholic vote in this country, because people here outside of the most recognizable cathedral in the country are upset.”
Shown the picture, one woman told her, “Disgusting, just forget it. It's evil. Just evil. Yeah. Nothing more to say about it. He's crazy. Done.”
Reporting from Bradenton, Florida, MS NOW’s Alex Tabet, got similar responses when sharing the picture.
One man responded, “Personally? It's disgusting. I talked with my wife about it earlier. I mean, Jesus Christ is my lord and savior. And that right there is, I mean, that's I don't really have words for that. That's disgusting.”
“As a Christian, how do you feel when you see this image?” Tabet asked a man standing by his truck.
“Offended,” the unidentified man quickly shot back before continuing, “ Yeah. I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed that he would actually do that. The man I voted for and trust."
”Politics are one thing, but stepping into that area is a little bit different. You know, a little bit stings for me a little bit," another man stated.
Alex Tabet interviews Trump voter (MS NOW screenshot)
Attempts by Donald Trump to put out the firestorm he created by posting a meme picture of himself as Jesus on Truth Social seems to be flopping, MS NOW is reporting.
On Monday the president defended the picture, which had been taken down, claiming that he was being portrayed as a doctor, but in interviews on the street, self-identified Christians and Catholics uniformly criticized the president when shown a printout of the picture, with one Trump voter claiming he was “ashamed.”
Speaking with Anna Cabrera from in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, reporter Laura Haefeli told the host, “One thing is clear is this could actually cost him possibly the Catholic vote in this country, because people here outside of the most recognizable cathedral in the country are upset.”
Shown the picture, one woman told her, “Disgusting, just forget it. It's evil. Just evil. Yeah. Nothing more to say about it. He's crazy. Done.”
Reporting from Bradenton, Florida, MS NOW’s Alex Tabet, got similar responses when sharing the picture.
One man responded, “Personally? It's disgusting. I talked with my wife about it earlier. I mean, Jesus Christ is my lord and savior. And that right there is, I mean, that's I don't really have words for that. That's disgusting.”
“As a Christian, how do you feel when you see this image?” Tabet asked a man standing by his truck.
“Offended,” the unidentified man quickly shot back before continuing, “ Yeah. I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed that he would actually do that. The man I voted for and trust."
”Politics are one thing, but stepping into that area is a little bit different. You know, a little bit stings for me a little bit," another man stated.
'Showed great respect': Mike Johnson praises Trump over 'sacrilegious' Jesus post
David Edwards
April 14, 2026
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (Reuters)
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said President Donald Trump shared an image of himself as Jesus because he didn't view it as "sacrilegious."
On Tuesday, Johnson told CNN's Veronica Stracqualursi that he contacted the president after he posted the sacrilegious image.
"Was it blasphemy?" the reporter wondered.
"I talked with the president about it as soon as I saw it and told him that I don't think it was being received in the same way he intended it," Johnson replied. He agreed, and he pulled it down. That was the right thing to do."
"He explained how he saw that, and I don't think he thought it was sacrilegious at all," he said.
Johnson insisted that Trump "showed great respect to others by removing it."
April 14, 2026
RAW STORY
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (Reuters)
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said President Donald Trump shared an image of himself as Jesus because he didn't view it as "sacrilegious."
On Tuesday, Johnson told CNN's Veronica Stracqualursi that he contacted the president after he posted the sacrilegious image.
"Was it blasphemy?" the reporter wondered.
"I talked with the president about it as soon as I saw it and told him that I don't think it was being received in the same way he intended it," Johnson replied. He agreed, and he pulled it down. That was the right thing to do."
"He explained how he saw that, and I don't think he thought it was sacrilegious at all," he said.
Johnson insisted that Trump "showed great respect to others by removing it."
Trump's threat against Pope Leo is exactly why Francis shaped him for the job
Donald Trump just inadvertently invoked the Christian understanding of the Antichrist
Cardinal Chrisophe Pierre, who at the time of the January meeting was the Holy See’s ambassador to the U.S., was summoned by Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby to the Pentagon in an unprecedented move, the Free Press reported Monday.
Pentagon officials “picked apart” the American pontiff’s January speech, “reading it as a hostile message directed at Trump’s policies,” according to the outlet’s sources. The Pentagon was reportedly furious that the speech challenged Trump’s so-called Donroe Doctrine that the Western Hemisphere should be controlled by the United States.
At one point during the meeting, according to the Free Press, “one U.S. official went so far as to invoke the Avignon Papacy, the period in the 1300s when the French Crown leveraged its military power to dominate the papal authority.”
Pope Francis was preparing for just this kind of battle before he died, seeing Trump as a threat to the world. I wrote back when the conclave chose Leo in May of last year about how Francis shepherded Leo into the job. I figured this was a good time to repost it.
May 9, 2025
With the arrival of Pope Leo XIV, much of the media has emphasized the mystery of the papal conclave, focusing on cryptic rituals, traditions shrouded in secrecy, and deep solemnity—which sells and keeps people riveted—when there are some things that are pretty clear as day regarding the politics of the selection of Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost. And even MAGA world sees that, and is in a full-blown meltdown over it.
The Catholic church is a global institution with huge cultural impact. As a nation state, The Vatican, with embassies and diplomats all over the world, and a presence at the U.N., has a head of state who has outsized power. The pope has a massive political platform. Certainly Francis sought to influence public policy, in the U.S. and in countries around the world.
And, as I noted last week, Francis was a smart politician—unlike his predecessor, Benedict, who was a lousy politician, a man led by the impulsiveness of his zealous conservatism, rarely making strategic decisions.
It’s clear that Francis knew—or certainly tried to ensure—that Prevost would be the next pope, desiring to have someone who would continue his direction for the church, away from the conservative American church’s ideologies and emphasis. Francis had named the vast majority of the cardinals who voted on his successor, and they were loyal to him—and likely loyal to his wishes if indeed he’d lobbied them prior to his death.
Francis brought Prevost to the Vatican in 2023—making him a cardinal, and thus eligible to be pope, only two years ago—to further learn the intricacies of the Vatican (and, by default, the papacy), obviously grooming him for the job. Francis put Prevost in charge of the office in the church that vets bishop nominations from around the world, one of the most powerful offices in the Vatican, tasked with reshaping the church’s leadership.
It involved choosing new bishops upon retirements, but also sometimes removing church leaders and replacing them because they were trouble. Prevost worked alongside Francis in the two years before his death, a critical time. That was when Francis was seeking to reshape the American church’s hierarchy, as I wrote at the time, which for years has been deeply enmeshed in GOP—and MAGA—politics.
It was during that two-year period when there were big moves, such as Francis’ firing of Bishop Robert Strickland of Tyler, Texas—an icon of extremist MAGA Catholics—who defied Francis’ teachings. It was also during that time that Cardinal Raymond Burke was booted from his palatial Vatican apartment and sent packing. He was a Trump-supporting Covid denier who was making a fortune on the MAGA speaking circuit in the U.S.—and someone who also defied Francis’ reforms.
Prevost was there for all that and was deeply involved in helping carry out those decisions.
Before taking that job in Rome, however, Prevost, who was born in Chicago and educated in the U.S. and had spent his early years as a priest in the Midwest, was in the field as a missionary in Peru, where he also became a citizen of that country. He was Apostolic Administrator of Chiclayo, then named the Bishop of Chiclayo by Francis in 2015, where he served until Francis brought him to Rome in 2023 and made him a cardinal.
He got the experience as a missionary—a life experience that was vital to Francis’ outlook in reaching the people and getting beyond the church’s stone buildings—and then came to the Vatican to work with Francis in his last two years.
Francis may have had a few people in mind whom he was preparing over the years, but it was Prevost he clearly seemed focused on near the end of his life. The cardinals’ selection of Prevost, an American, sent shock waves through the world of church scholars and pundits, since no one expected an American to become pope because the U.S. has traditionally been seen as having too much power already.
But I believe having an American as pope at this point in time was part of Francis’ plan. Prevost was active in recent months on X. He hadn’t posted in all of 2024, but this year he slammed JD Vance, among other posts criticizing the Trump administration. I don’t think any of this was an accident, as these social media posts would become big news—which they are—upon the pope’s death and Provost’s becoming Pope Leo, sending a very clear message.
One opinion piece from The Catholic Standard that Provost re-posted just a few weeks ago was written by the auxiliary bishop of Washington, DC, Bishop Evelio Menjivar, who is from El Salvador and had been an undocumented immigrant himself for many years. It’s a powerful piece slamming the Trump administration:
The video of a student being accosted by masked agents after her visa was revoked without notice – apparently because of an op-ed she co-wrote years ago – is horrifying. Most egregiously, the government has now claimed the authority to unilaterally seize certain people based on mere suspicion, or because of their tattoos, and send them to a prison in El Salvador accused of human rights abuses – all without review by a court to even determine their identity. The government admits some have been wrongfully deported, but officials are fighting attempts to right these wrongs.
More than a few natural-born Americans are saying they do not recognize their country anymore, but many of us from other lands recognize all too well the terror of people being snatched by secret police and disappeared. We left our former countries precisely to get away from it.
It’s also noteworthy that Prevost chose Leo for his name, meant to signify his carrying on the work of Pope Leo XIII, who was known as the father of social justice. In his 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum, Pope Leo outlined the rights of workers to a fair wage, safety in the workplace, and the ability to form labor unions. Interestingly, the previous Pope Leo served from 1878 to 1903, during the entire presidency of Trump’s favorite president, William McKinley, the fanatic on tariffs who also emboldened big business to trample on workers.
Provost also criticized Trump often in his first term, on issues such as gun violence and immigration. I believe Francis understood the need for a pope who is from this culture, who speaks English fluently, who spars in his own voice on social media, and who could sit down with American television interviewers and lay out the case against harsh policies and attacks on the marginalized.
While the U.S. is just one country among many, and while the church is growing much more in Asia and Africa, Francis had to see—as many of us have—that right now Trump is an existential threat to everything in the world that is held sacred, including the Catholic church itself. The Vatican is smack dab in the middle of the European Union, under attack by Trump’s trade war and by the U.S.’s encouragement of Vladimir Putin’s encroachment on Europe. And the Vatican is surely impacted by any weakening of NATO.
But it’s, of course, beyond self-preservation. The causes that Francis promoted—supporting migrants, helping the poor and marginalized, saving the planet—are under assault.
We don’t know a lot about Leo’s recent beliefs and positions on women in the church, LBGTQ rights and other issues. Like Francis himself, he showed some hostility to gay rights many years ago—almost 15 years ago, in fact—but like Francis, he likely evolved, like many other leaders.
He recently remained open—though not fully committed—to Francis’s having allowed blessings of same-sex unions. And he has supported Francis’s commitment to “synodality”—diverse inclusiveness from grassroots lay people in the church—which the American conservatives in the church have fiercely opposed. My hunch is that Francis told him to keep his powder dry on the issue—as Francis did before he was pope—but we’ll know in time.
What is true is that there is no going back now to the archconservatives. Francis’s legacy lives on. And there is now a voice in the Vatican who is both a citizen of Peru and the U.S., someone whose maternal grandparents were Creole people of color from Louisiana. And he is someone with an enormous platform, who looks like he will be an outspoken home-grown counterpoint for all Americans—and the world—to the brutality of the Trump era.
Donald Trump just inadvertently invoked the Christian understanding of the Antichrist
April 12, 2026
In recent days we learned that Pope Leo will likely not visit the United States during Trump’s presidency and declined an invite to the 250th birthday celebrations.
The tensions between the Vatican and the U.S. have been clear as Leo has slammed Trump for his brutal attacks on immigrants and, now, his reckless war in Iran, in which Trump threatened to “wipe out” an entire civilization.
A report has now surfaced that the Pentagon—not the State Department—called the Vatican’s ambassador in for a meeting in January after the pope’s state of the world speech in which he criticized Trump’s military moves. And the Vatican emissary was given a stark warning. From AL.com:
A Trump administration official gave the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States a “bitter lecture” about America’s military might and suggested the Catholic Church get on board with American foreign policy after Pope Leo XIV gave a speech condemning use of force and preaching diplomacy, according to a new report.
In recent days we learned that Pope Leo will likely not visit the United States during Trump’s presidency and declined an invite to the 250th birthday celebrations.
The tensions between the Vatican and the U.S. have been clear as Leo has slammed Trump for his brutal attacks on immigrants and, now, his reckless war in Iran, in which Trump threatened to “wipe out” an entire civilization.
A report has now surfaced that the Pentagon—not the State Department—called the Vatican’s ambassador in for a meeting in January after the pope’s state of the world speech in which he criticized Trump’s military moves. And the Vatican emissary was given a stark warning. From AL.com:
A Trump administration official gave the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States a “bitter lecture” about America’s military might and suggested the Catholic Church get on board with American foreign policy after Pope Leo XIV gave a speech condemning use of force and preaching diplomacy, according to a new report.
Cardinal Chrisophe Pierre, who at the time of the January meeting was the Holy See’s ambassador to the U.S., was summoned by Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby to the Pentagon in an unprecedented move, the Free Press reported Monday.
Pentagon officials “picked apart” the American pontiff’s January speech, “reading it as a hostile message directed at Trump’s policies,” according to the outlet’s sources. The Pentagon was reportedly furious that the speech challenged Trump’s so-called Donroe Doctrine that the Western Hemisphere should be controlled by the United States.
At one point during the meeting, according to the Free Press, “one U.S. official went so far as to invoke the Avignon Papacy, the period in the 1300s when the French Crown leveraged its military power to dominate the papal authority.”
Pope Francis was preparing for just this kind of battle before he died, seeing Trump as a threat to the world. I wrote back when the conclave chose Leo in May of last year about how Francis shepherded Leo into the job. I figured this was a good time to repost it.
May 9, 2025
With the arrival of Pope Leo XIV, much of the media has emphasized the mystery of the papal conclave, focusing on cryptic rituals, traditions shrouded in secrecy, and deep solemnity—which sells and keeps people riveted—when there are some things that are pretty clear as day regarding the politics of the selection of Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost. And even MAGA world sees that, and is in a full-blown meltdown over it.
The Catholic church is a global institution with huge cultural impact. As a nation state, The Vatican, with embassies and diplomats all over the world, and a presence at the U.N., has a head of state who has outsized power. The pope has a massive political platform. Certainly Francis sought to influence public policy, in the U.S. and in countries around the world.
And, as I noted last week, Francis was a smart politician—unlike his predecessor, Benedict, who was a lousy politician, a man led by the impulsiveness of his zealous conservatism, rarely making strategic decisions.
It’s clear that Francis knew—or certainly tried to ensure—that Prevost would be the next pope, desiring to have someone who would continue his direction for the church, away from the conservative American church’s ideologies and emphasis. Francis had named the vast majority of the cardinals who voted on his successor, and they were loyal to him—and likely loyal to his wishes if indeed he’d lobbied them prior to his death.
Francis brought Prevost to the Vatican in 2023—making him a cardinal, and thus eligible to be pope, only two years ago—to further learn the intricacies of the Vatican (and, by default, the papacy), obviously grooming him for the job. Francis put Prevost in charge of the office in the church that vets bishop nominations from around the world, one of the most powerful offices in the Vatican, tasked with reshaping the church’s leadership.
It involved choosing new bishops upon retirements, but also sometimes removing church leaders and replacing them because they were trouble. Prevost worked alongside Francis in the two years before his death, a critical time. That was when Francis was seeking to reshape the American church’s hierarchy, as I wrote at the time, which for years has been deeply enmeshed in GOP—and MAGA—politics.
It was during that two-year period when there were big moves, such as Francis’ firing of Bishop Robert Strickland of Tyler, Texas—an icon of extremist MAGA Catholics—who defied Francis’ teachings. It was also during that time that Cardinal Raymond Burke was booted from his palatial Vatican apartment and sent packing. He was a Trump-supporting Covid denier who was making a fortune on the MAGA speaking circuit in the U.S.—and someone who also defied Francis’ reforms.
Prevost was there for all that and was deeply involved in helping carry out those decisions.
Before taking that job in Rome, however, Prevost, who was born in Chicago and educated in the U.S. and had spent his early years as a priest in the Midwest, was in the field as a missionary in Peru, where he also became a citizen of that country. He was Apostolic Administrator of Chiclayo, then named the Bishop of Chiclayo by Francis in 2015, where he served until Francis brought him to Rome in 2023 and made him a cardinal.
He got the experience as a missionary—a life experience that was vital to Francis’ outlook in reaching the people and getting beyond the church’s stone buildings—and then came to the Vatican to work with Francis in his last two years.
Francis may have had a few people in mind whom he was preparing over the years, but it was Prevost he clearly seemed focused on near the end of his life. The cardinals’ selection of Prevost, an American, sent shock waves through the world of church scholars and pundits, since no one expected an American to become pope because the U.S. has traditionally been seen as having too much power already.
But I believe having an American as pope at this point in time was part of Francis’ plan. Prevost was active in recent months on X. He hadn’t posted in all of 2024, but this year he slammed JD Vance, among other posts criticizing the Trump administration. I don’t think any of this was an accident, as these social media posts would become big news—which they are—upon the pope’s death and Provost’s becoming Pope Leo, sending a very clear message.
One opinion piece from The Catholic Standard that Provost re-posted just a few weeks ago was written by the auxiliary bishop of Washington, DC, Bishop Evelio Menjivar, who is from El Salvador and had been an undocumented immigrant himself for many years. It’s a powerful piece slamming the Trump administration:
The video of a student being accosted by masked agents after her visa was revoked without notice – apparently because of an op-ed she co-wrote years ago – is horrifying. Most egregiously, the government has now claimed the authority to unilaterally seize certain people based on mere suspicion, or because of their tattoos, and send them to a prison in El Salvador accused of human rights abuses – all without review by a court to even determine their identity. The government admits some have been wrongfully deported, but officials are fighting attempts to right these wrongs.
More than a few natural-born Americans are saying they do not recognize their country anymore, but many of us from other lands recognize all too well the terror of people being snatched by secret police and disappeared. We left our former countries precisely to get away from it.
It’s also noteworthy that Prevost chose Leo for his name, meant to signify his carrying on the work of Pope Leo XIII, who was known as the father of social justice. In his 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum, Pope Leo outlined the rights of workers to a fair wage, safety in the workplace, and the ability to form labor unions. Interestingly, the previous Pope Leo served from 1878 to 1903, during the entire presidency of Trump’s favorite president, William McKinley, the fanatic on tariffs who also emboldened big business to trample on workers.
Provost also criticized Trump often in his first term, on issues such as gun violence and immigration. I believe Francis understood the need for a pope who is from this culture, who speaks English fluently, who spars in his own voice on social media, and who could sit down with American television interviewers and lay out the case against harsh policies and attacks on the marginalized.
While the U.S. is just one country among many, and while the church is growing much more in Asia and Africa, Francis had to see—as many of us have—that right now Trump is an existential threat to everything in the world that is held sacred, including the Catholic church itself. The Vatican is smack dab in the middle of the European Union, under attack by Trump’s trade war and by the U.S.’s encouragement of Vladimir Putin’s encroachment on Europe. And the Vatican is surely impacted by any weakening of NATO.
But it’s, of course, beyond self-preservation. The causes that Francis promoted—supporting migrants, helping the poor and marginalized, saving the planet—are under assault.
We don’t know a lot about Leo’s recent beliefs and positions on women in the church, LBGTQ rights and other issues. Like Francis himself, he showed some hostility to gay rights many years ago—almost 15 years ago, in fact—but like Francis, he likely evolved, like many other leaders.
He recently remained open—though not fully committed—to Francis’s having allowed blessings of same-sex unions. And he has supported Francis’s commitment to “synodality”—diverse inclusiveness from grassroots lay people in the church—which the American conservatives in the church have fiercely opposed. My hunch is that Francis told him to keep his powder dry on the issue—as Francis did before he was pope—but we’ll know in time.
What is true is that there is no going back now to the archconservatives. Francis’s legacy lives on. And there is now a voice in the Vatican who is both a citizen of Peru and the U.S., someone whose maternal grandparents were Creole people of color from Louisiana. And he is someone with an enormous platform, who looks like he will be an outspoken home-grown counterpoint for all Americans—and the world—to the brutality of the Trump era.
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