{"id":6127,"date":"2026-04-14T01:31:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T08:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=6127"},"modified":"2026-04-14T01:58:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T08:58:03","slug":"many-us-catholics-are-dismayed-by-trumps-unprecedented-broadside-at-the-first-american-pope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=6127","title":{"rendered":"Many US Catholics are dismayed by Trump\u2019s unprecedented broadside at the first American pope"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A majority of U.S. Catholic voters supported Donald Trump in his 2024 presidential victory. Yet across the broad Catholic political spectrum \u2013 even among conservative-leaning bishops \u2013 there is dismay over <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Trump\u2019s\u00a0unprecedented verbal assault<\/a>\u00a0on Pope Leo XIV, the first American to lead their church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leo says he is sharing a Gospel message and not directly attacking Trump or anyone else with his appeals for peace and criticism of attitudes fueling the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criticism of Trump came from Archbishop Paul Coakley<\/a>, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and from Minnesota-based Bishop Robert Barron,<\/a> who only a few days ago was applauding Trump as an Easter guest at the White House. Barron called the president\u2019s remarks \u201centirely inappropriate and disrespectful\u201d and urged him to apologize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dismay extended into an even more solid base of Trump support \u2014 conservative Christian evangelicals. Many were appalled that Trump followed his Truth Social attack on Leo by posting an image depicting himself as a Christ-like savior.

\u201cTAKE THIS DOWN, MR. PRESIDENT,\u201d posted David Brody<\/a>, a prominent Trump-supporting commentator with the Christian Broadcasting Network. \u201cYou\u2019re not God. None of us are. This goes too far. It crosses the line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By midday Monday, the image had been taken down from Truth Social. And speaking at the White House, the president claimed that he never intended to liken himself to Jesus when he posted the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow did they come up with that?\u201d he asked. \u201cIt\u2019s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump: No apology needed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On his clash with the pope, Trump was equally defiant: \u201cThere\u2019s nothing to apologize for. He\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The president\u2019s feud with American religious communities comes just six months before voting begins in this fall\u2019s midterms as Trump grapples with low approval ratings and dissension from his MAGA base over the war with Iran. But few groups of voters have been more loyal to Trump \u2014 and important to his political success \u2014 than those on the religious right.

For now, some Trump allies are optimistic that the dispute will soon be forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a deep reservoir of appreciation for the president and his faith-based policies that transcends and eclipses any disagreement over a social media post,\u201d Ralph Reed, who sits on the president\u2019s faith advisory board, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through American history, numerous U.S. presidents have had policy differences with various popes. But experts on the Vatican and religious history could recall no exchange comparable to the back-and-forth between Trump and Leo over the pope\u2019s condemnation of America\u2019s role<\/a> in the Iran war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is unprecedented criticism of a Pope from a US president,\u201d David Campbell, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame, said via email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs to whether it will have a big effect on how US Catholic voters regard Trump, that is an open question,\u201d Campbell added. \u201cGiven that attitudes toward the president are driven largely by people\u2019s party preference \u2014 which is hard to move — it probably will not have a huge impact on Catholics\u2019 attitudes toward Trump.\u201d

David Gibson, director of Fordham University\u2019s Center on Religion and Culture, noted that many lay Catholics have been standing by Trump in recent weeks and have been critical of their bishops who critique the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf this attack on the pope does not shift that dynamic in a marked way it will truly be a watershed moment … with American Catholics choosing a Catholic-baiting president over their own pope,\u201d Gibson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking far back into world history, Trump\u2019s attempt to \u201cstrong-arm Pope Leo\u201d isn\u2019t anything new, said Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of American Studies and History at Notre Dame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEmperors, monarchs, and despots have long threatened popes in an effort to force them to bend to their will,\u201d she said via email. \u201cIn an American context, however, Trump\u2019s invective does represent a historic reversal.\u201d

\u201cFor most of this country\u2019s history, Americans viewed the pope as war-mongering, money-grubbing, anti-democratic menace who had designs on the White House,\u201d she added. \u201cToday, the menace is in the White House, and the pope is the one defending the ideals of liberty and human dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a prayer service Saturday, the pontiff denounced the \u201c delusion of omnipotence<\/a> \u201d that he said was fueling the war with Iran. Without citing Trump or the U.S. specifically, the pope said: \u201cEnough of the display of power! Enough of war!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, he was specific in responding to the president\u2019s criticisms, saying \u201cI have no fear of the Trump administration.\u201d

Vance suggests Vatican should stay out of politics in some cases<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert who occasionally has sparred with church leaders over their criticism of the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown, said in an interview on Fox News Channel on Monday night that the president\u2019s social media post with the Jesus-like image was \u201ca joke.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course, he took it down because he realized a lot of people weren\u2019t understanding his humor,\u201d Vance said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He repeatedly dismissed the focus on the president\u2019s fight with the pope, saying it \u201cisn\u2019t particularly newsworthy\u201d and there will be disagreements from time to time with the Vatican.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Vance also suggested the pope should stay in his lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI certainly think that in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what\u2019s going on with the Catholic church, and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,\u201d Vance said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catholics Vote Common Good, a nonprofit group that generally supports progressive causes, urged Vance to speak out on the rift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt a moment when the Holy Father is being attacked and the dignity of the Church is being undermined, silence is not neutrality. It is complicity,\u201d said Denise Murphy McGraw, the organization\u2019s national co-chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some vocal evangelical supporters of Trump criticized the meme depicting him as healer apparently resembling Jesus, even while maintaining support for Trump himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t hard to condemn this outright,\u201d said Willy Rice, a candidate for president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany Christians appreciate the President\u2019s administration and have supported him in meaningful ways, but this is wrong,\u201d Rice posted on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also weighing in was Doug Wilson, co-founder of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, a staunchly conservative Calvinist denomination with an outsized influence<\/a> in the current administration. Its churches\u2019 members include Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was very grateful to see how many conservative Christians immediately denounced the blasphemous Jesus\/Trump image,\u201d Wilson posted on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Megan Basham, a conservative evangelical commentator, posted that she agreed with Trump\u2019s criticisms of Leo as \u201cWeak on crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.\u201d But she assailed his meme as \u201cOUTRAGEOUS blasphemy\u201d and urged Trump to \u201cask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A look at the numbers for religious blocs as election nears<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Such public dissension against Trump from evangelical leaders is rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, white evangelical Protestants were a significant component of Trump\u2019s winning coalition, according to AP VoteCast. About one-third of Trump voters, 34%, identified as white evangelical or born-again Christians, compared with only 8 percent of Harris voters. White evangelicals made up about 2 in 10 voters that year, and the vast majority, 79%, voted for Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A February AP-NORC poll found that about two-thirds of white born again Protestants approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, while about one-third disapprove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catholics were much unhappier with Trump\u2019s performance in that poll. Only about 4 in 10 approved of his handling of the presidency, similar to Americans overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

William Barbieri, a Catholic University ethics professor, said Trump\u2019s remarks seemed aimed more at his political base than at Leo himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPope Leo\u2019s response has been calm and measured, in a way that creates a contrast unflattering to the President,\u201d Barbieri said via email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe is opposing resorts to lethal force … and expressing solidarity with suffering people in many countries,\u201d said Barbieri, contrasting the start of Leo\u2019s pastoral journey to Africa this week with Trump\u2019s appearance at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the weekend.

Reprinted from the Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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