During the war with Iran, there were many means of protest from many groups. One of these groups that has become a large majority in recent news was American Catholics—and by extension, the Vatican.
While being interviewed, President Donald Trump was asked if he believed that God supports the war that America was involved in with Iran. In response, Trump answered, “I do, because God is good and God wants to see people taken care of.” As well as this, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth spoke at the Pentagon, where he called for the American people to pray for military victory in Iran “in the name of Jesus Christ.” Following this, Pope Leo XIV responded on Holy Thursday criticizing Hegseth by saying that this view was “distorted by a desire for domination, entirely foreign to the way of Jesus Christ.” Pope Leo would later make a post on X, adding that “God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of peace, which come only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.” Unintentionally, this callout led to a spiral in today’s politics.
The Connection
Nearly half of America is connected to Catholicism in some way, with 20% of Americans being Catholic themselves. Of the 20% of American Catholics, the majority lean toward the Republican Party, with even 61% of white Catholics being registered republicans. With Trump’s administration placing importance on faith, it would make sense for him to accommodate these voters, especially with the amount of support he already has with this group of voters. However, Trump and his administration’s insistence on downplaying the power the pope has is greatly backfiring and we are already starting to see the effects. From the Vice President saying that the pope needs to “be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” to the posting of an AI-generated image of Trump resembling Jesus Christ, American Catholics are starting to regret their support as his approval rating with Catholics begins to drop below 50%.
JD Vance
Today, Vice President JD Vance follows Catholicism. He was born into an evangelical Christian household and later became an atheist in adulthood. Later on in adulthood, he converted to Catholicism. Because of Vance’s faith, he follows the pope. However, after both meeting with Pope Leo and hearing of his callout for Trump, Vance is very open with his disagreements with the pope. After hearing of Pope Leo’s post on X, he went on to say during an interview “Now we can, of course, have disagreements about whether this or that conflict is just, but I think in the way that it’s important for the vice president of the United States to be careful when I talk about matters of public policy, I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.” A large appeal that Vance had with voters was his connection to the average American and especially those of Christian faith because of his push for ideas such as bringing back the “nuclear family” and other ideas relating to the American lifestyle. With his clash with the Pope, however, many Catholics are divided on the issue of his ideals and the way he speaks of Pope Leo.
Donald Trump
On a more detrimental side of things, the way that Trump continues to speak of the pope is driving Catholics away, even conservative Catholics. After Pope Leo’s post on X, Trump would go on to create a post on Truth Social stating, “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” and add to his post, “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.” In other instances, he would add that he was “not a fan” of Pope Leo and that he believed the pope should “stop catering to the radical left.” After his post saying the pope was weak on crime, he would post an image of himself that closely resembles Jesus Christ.
After backlash against the post, he would say that it was meant to be a doctor, not any biblical figure and would delete the post from Truth Social. The Ancient Order of Hibernians, the U.S.’s largest organization of Irish Catholics, would soon respond, saying “When a president mocks the Vicar of Christ and then cloaks himself in Christ’s image, he has left the realm of politics entirely.”
The Conclusion
Overall, for an administration that seems to place so much importance on bringing back faith to the American people, they’re failing to actually accommodate those who already have faith. While they are currently pushing people to side with Pope Leo, that’s not their end goal. Trump’s administration does not care for “spreading the gospel” but instead cares for possible votes to ensure a stay in office. American citizens—especially those of the Catholic faith—need to stand up against the government and have Trump and his administration realize that the American people matter.
