Catholic bishops and U.S. elected officials have publicly criticized the president’s statements about Pope Leo XIV.
President Donald Trump called Leo “weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy” in a lengthy social media post April 12 that drew response from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and elected officials.
Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, called Trump’s attack on Pope Leo XIV “disrespectful.” Barron, who serves on Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, said in a post on X that Trump’s comments “were entirely inappropriate and disrespectful” and “I think the president owes the pope an apology.”
“[Trump’s comments] don’t contribute at all to a constructive conversation,” he said. “It is the pope’s prerogative to articulate Catholic doctrine and the principles that govern the moral life. In regard to the concrete application of those principles, people of goodwill can and do disagree.”
Barron encouraged Catholic Trump officials to arrange a meeting with Vatican officials “so that a real dialogue can take place,” saying “this is far preferable to the statements on social media.”
Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, said in a social media post: “Along with Archbishop [Paul] Coakley, president of the USCCB, and my brother bishops, I was disheartened by recent comments from President Trump concerning Pope Leo XIV and the Church. I pray that civility and respect are fully restored as together, with God’s grace, we work for peace and harmony among all people. May we also be united in our prayer for the end of war and violence so that Christ’s peace reigns throughout the world and in our hearts.”
Palm Beach, Florida, Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez posted on X: “The @DiocesePB stands firm with our Holy Father, @Pontifex, and strongly rejects the disrespectful and violent attacks that Donald J. Trump has directed against the Holy Father.”
Buffalo, New York, Bishop Michael Fisher posted on X: “This is not about politics but the very cause of humanity.”
The Catholic Association‘s Ashley McGuire said in a statement: “The Catholic Church does not in any way fit into American political boxes. It will always prioritize the protection of innocent life in all its stages as well as the cause of the poor and marginalized. Insulting the pope, and all Catholics by extension, with the hope of making the Church bend to American political agendas, is discouraging and counterproductive.”
McGuire added: “We pray that President Trump apologizes to Pope Leo.”
U.S. officials’ reaction begins
Republican Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, has not yet commented on the matter, nor has Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also a Catholic.
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, who is Catholic, posted on X that “I find it abhorrent that the president of the United States would publicly attack the successor of St. Peter.”
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on X that Trump “shamefully attacked” the pope. Few Republican elected officials have spoken out.
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on X: “Hey @GOP, you good with your guy directly attacking the pope now?”
Rep. Lukas Schubert, a Republican Montana state lawmaker, disputed the presidentʼs statement that the pope is a “liberal person.”
“Pope Leo is significantly further to the right than President Trump on abortion, gay marriage, and family values. Also he is more America First on the Iran War,” Schubert said.
AI image
Trump also posted an AI-created image on Truth Social that appeared to portray himself as Jesus Christ, healing the sick, which led several Catholics to accuse the president of blasphemy.
Edward Feser, a Catholic philosopher and professor at Pasadena City College, posted on X that Trump’s comments illustrate “how utter enslavement to the sin of pride makes a man unsuitable for the presidency.”
“For all their faults, previous presidents had the visceral understanding of proper boundaries not to attack the vicar of Christ even when they disagreed with him,” he said.
Feser quoted Daniel 11:36-37 in response to Trump’s AI image of himself as Christ, which reads: “And the king shall do according to his will; he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods … He shall not give heed to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all.”
In reaction to the AI photo, Matt Fradd, the host of “Pints With Aquinas,“ urged Catholics to “offer a rosary today for Donald Trump and all blasphemers. … Seriously. Do it. I will too.”
Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, did not directly reference Trumpʼs remarks about the pope but criticized the AI-created image on X: “There aren’t enough words to denounce how wrong this is.”
The comments came after Leo criticized the Iran war and Trump’s rhetoric about targeting the entire civilization of Iran. Leo said in response to the post: “I have no fear neither of the Trump administration nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Republican congresswoman who was a strong ally of Trump before splitting with him on the Iran war and his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, posted on X that Trump “attacked the pope because the pope is rightly against Trump’s war in Iran and then he posted this picture of himself as if he is replacing Jesus.”
“This comes after last week’s post of his evil tirade on Easter and then threatening to kill an entire civilization,” she said. “I completely denounce this and I’m praying against it!!!”
‘Fuels division’
Father Robert Sirico, the founder of the Acton Institute, said in a statement that Leo “has both the right and the duty to speak prophetically on matters of war and peace, the dignity of the human person, and the moral limits of force — even when his words discomfort political leaders.”
He said Trump’s post does not “strengthen America’s moral standing but “merely fuels division.”
Sirico also added that Catholics can disagree with popes on prudential judgments, such as foreign policy or crime, which he said are not infallible: “The Church herself teaches that such applications of principle admit of legitimate debate.”
This story was updated at 11:50 a.m. ET on April 13, 2026, with comments from Buffalo, New York, Bishop Michael Fisher and The Catholic Associationʼs Ashley McGuire.
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Disrespect everywhere, in everything. And Dishonesty.
Israel bombs Lebanon every 10 year or so as part of a deliberate plan of attrition. In the present round of bombing, there is the usual dis-informing happening but it is easier to catch what it says. They are bombing civilian targets on the grounds that the particular sites house “terrorists”. From everything Netanyahu has declared, what they really mean though not said explicitly, is that they are listening on phone conversations to determine attacks on people who express some level of opposition to Israel or to Israel activities -which is which not admitted by Israel nor what level of opposition earns being bombed.
Killing children and the defenseless as they go. Random. Indiscriminate. Said to be “deserved”. The US attacking Iran gave Netanyahu wide scope to go at Lebanon. Hegseth proclaiming Jesus Holy Name. Trump boasting it’s for “our children’s future”. Netanyahu blaspheming Jesus and proclaiming to the world the high merit of Genghis Khan.
Israel likely could not have successfully hit Lebanon this time around were it not for the new US foreign policy strategic partnering with Israel; set out last year.
Terrorism is a policing matter not a war matter. The US should get on it this way free of encumbrances and wickedness – for the advantage of everyone and the whole world.
The authorities in Lebanon are calling for disarming Hezbollah. But if bombing of Lebanon is already arranged neither policing nor disarming will carry. Really.
The mania-cum-desperation in Team Netanyahu runs high and deep, lately announcing to the world to go against “any country” that “diplomatically wages war” against them.
But terrorism is not a war matter. It is a policing matter.
“Israel likely could not have successfully hit Lebanon this time around were it not for the new US foreign policy strategic partnering with Israel; set out last year.” Not true. For one thing, as you point out, this is not the first time Israel has hit Hezbollah or the other way around. More specifically, though, they pulled off that pager operation in September 2024, during the Biden administration.
As for the rest, well, it seems that no one prioritizes peace — not even in the sense of Christian love the Popes have used, which is a big ask even between Catholic leaders (as the history of Medieval Europe shows), but even in the restricted sense of “stop killing each other”. Instead, everyone wants victory — total victory.
And, since it is popular these days to pretend that the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob apply in full force and exclusively to the Israelis (but none of the curses, of course), bear in mind that 10 tribes descended from sons of Jacob went into captivity under the Assyrians, and they disappeared. They were absorbed into the Assyrian Empire, which basically was “the Middle East”. Everyone in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe has Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in his family tree after more than 2500 years of mixing, rendering descent from Jacob completely useless as a basis for territorial claims.
What nonsense. Disrespecful yet truthful. Christ never said that respect was paramount but He did say that the Truth would set us free.
Doing Dignity is a major challenge facing humankind world wide. Each day is an opportunity to do dignity and grow in dignity.