After President Donald Trump criticized Pope Leo over statements he made about the war in Iran, Vice President JD Vance and other Christians weighed in.
Vance, a Catholic, joined Fox News Channel’s “Special Report with Bret Baier” on Monday evening to discuss the ongoing negotiations to end the war in the Middle East and the president taking to social media to say that Pope Leo “should be thankful” to hold the position he does as the first American leader of the Catholic Church.
The discourse between two leaders
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy. He talks about ‘fear’ of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart,” Trump’s lengthy post began.
The president went on to post an AI-generated image of himself depicted as Jesus, which resulted in criticism from many Christians. Vance told Baier on Monday that Trump was posting it as a joke and the president said Monday afternoon that he thought the image was depicting him as a Red Cross doctor administering aid to those in need. Trump took down the post after receiving criticism, including from religious conservatives.
“Of course, he took it down because he recognized that a lot of people weren’t understanding his ... humor in that case,” Vance said. “I think the president of the United States likes to mix it up on social media.”
Vance said that when it comes to disagreements with the Vatican, they’re going to happen “from time to time.”
Pope Leo said he had “no fear” of the Trump administration after the president’s lengthy post online. The pope has emerged as a critic of the U.S. war in Iran and has urged for peace. In a homily on Saturday, Pope Leo called for a kingdom with “dignity, understanding and forgiveness.”
In a letter issued Tuesday by the Vatican, Pope Leo warned of the risk of democracies sliding into “majoritarian tyranny.” He did not name the U.S. directly, but said if democracies lack a foundation of moral values, they risk becoming a tyranny or a “mask for the dominance of economic and technological elites,” Reuters reported.
Trump told reporters Monday that he wouldn’t apologize to the pope after facing backlash from some of his own supporters.
On Fox, Vance argued that the dispute between Pope Leo and Trump is a natural thing.
“I think it’s ... a good thing, actually, that the pope is advocating for the things that he cares about,” he said. “But, we’re always going to have disagreements on matters of public policy — or, I should say, sometimes we’re going to have disagreements on matters of public policy.”
“The pope has been critical of our immigration policy. But, ultimately, the immigration policy of the United States is set by Donald Trump. The pope is going to have disagreements on other issues, we can respect the pope. We certainly have a good relationship with the Vatican. But we’re also going to disagree on substantive questions from time to time. I think that’s a totally reasonable thing. It isn’t particularly newsworthy,” Vance continued.
He added that he thinks for some matters it’s best for the Vatican to “stick to matters of morality.”
Others weigh in
The Rev. Robert Sirico, the co-founder and president of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, said the Vatican has “both the right and the duty to speak prophetically on matters of war and peace.”
He said theologically, Catholics aren’t required to treat everything the pope says on foreign policy or crime as “infallible” but argued that the president, “especially one elected to restore law and order” should model respect toward the leader of the Catholic Church.
“Labeling Pope Leo ‘weak’ or ‘terrible’ does not strengthen America’s moral standing; it merely fuels division. Strong national defense, secure borders, and the rule of law are not only compatible with Catholic teaching — they flow from the very principles of justice and subsidiarity that the Church has long defended,” Sirico said.
Riley Gaines criticizes Trump post
Riley Gaines, a strong supporter of Trump’s, shared several posts online about Trump’s AI-generated photo and his discourse with the pope. She said she “cannot understand” why Trump would post the photo and said “a little humility would serve him well.”
She later posted that she loves Trump and will continue to support him. Gaines said that Trump’s post “missed the mark” and it was “amazing” that the president deleted it.
“We’re imperfect people. I know I am. I don’t get my feelings hurt easy and I know with the president it’s really not personal. I want to spend eternity in a real place called Heaven. I’d love for Trump to be there too,” she said.
Utah Sen. John Curtis said the post depicting Trump as a Jesus-like figure was “offensive” and “not appropriate.”
“We have a really healthy relationship in the United States between religion and government, and there should be respect, and it was not respectful,” he said, calling the post “blasphemous.”