Local Catholic leaders express support for Chicago native Pope Leo after Trump calls him ‘weak’ and ‘terrible’
By: Angie Leventis Lourgos | eleventis@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune
Several local Catholic leaders expressed support for Chicago native Pope Leo XIV on Monday after President Donald Trump called the Holy Father “weak” and “terrible” in a rambling social media post amid a rapidly escalating feud between the Vatican and White House over the U.S.-Israel war in Iran.
Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka said Trump’s message was “very disappointing,” adding that it was “below the dignity of the office for the president to launch a personal attack on our Holy Father Pope Leo.”
“Pope Leo is not a politician. He is a pastor. He is the vicar of Christ,” Tylka said during a Monday phone interview with the Tribune. “And he’s speaking the Gospel truth which calls us all to show respect for one another and find ways to solve conflicts which don’t include war.”
Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich urged the public to focus on the pontiff’s call for peace in Iran.
“The substance of Pope Leo’s message should be the focus of discussions not distractions,” Cupich said in a statement to the Tribune on Monday, the day after he condemned the White House’s handling of the war in Iran during a Sunday interview on “60 Minutes.”
The Rev. Robert Dowd, president of the University of Notre Dame, said the pope’s message for peace in Iran “transcends partisan political divisions in this or any country and I am deeply grateful for Pope Leo’s inspiring example.”
“I ask members of the Notre Dame community to pray for peace and work together with all people of goodwill to build a more just and humane world,” Dowd added.
Late Sunday, Trump castigated the Holy Father for his position on the war in Iran and numerous other subjects in a lengthy rant posted on his Truth Social page.
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” the post said. “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.”
The tirade went on to list a litany of complaints against the pope, including Leo’s lack of support of the ongoing conflict in Venezuela and for meeting with “Obama Sympathizers” such as longtime Chicagoan David Axelrod, who Trump referred to as a “LOSER from the Left.”
Trump said in the post that he prefers the pontiff’s older brother, Louis Prevost, who like the pope was raised in south suburban Dolton.
Louis Prevost, who lives in Florida, had described his elation at learning his younger brother had been elected pope during an interview with the Tribune last year, calling the moment “mind-blowing.”
He had attended Leo’s May inaugural Mass at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City as a guest of Vice President J.D. Vance, who led the American delegation to the ceremony.
“I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!” Trump said in his social media message. “And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History.”
Trump’s social media post also insinuated that the Holy Father owed his May selection as pope to Trump’s 2024 election as president.
“Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise. He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump,” the social media post said. “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
In response, Bishop Robert McClory of the Diocese of Gary and Rockford Bishop David Malloy echoed the reaction of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which described being “disheartened that the President chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father.”
“Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician,” conference president Archbishop Paul S. Coakley said in a statement Sunday. “He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”
Early Monday, the pope pushed back against Trump’s social media assault, stressing that the Vatican’s pleas for peace and reconciliation are based on the Gospel, and that he does not fear the Trump administration as the president’s post claimed.
“To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,” Leo told the Associated Press on the papal plane as he headed to Algeria at the start of an 11-day, four-nation tour of Africa. “And I’m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.”
Leo, who made history as the first U.S.-born pope, insisted that he was not making direct attacks on Trump or anyone else with his general calls for peace and critique of the “delusion of omnipotence” that has spurred the Iran war and other global conflicts.
“I will not enter into debate. The things that I say are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone. The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers,’” Leo added. “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.”
Tylka praised the pope’s rebuttal, adding that the pontiff spoke “very eloquently about the fact that he, first and foremost, is not afraid to speak the Gospel truth and he will continue to teach the world and preach to the world the Gospel message of peace.”
“That should be the case of the Holy Father and the church and all Christians,” he added. “We should speak about peace and challenge our political leaders to seek peaceful resolution to conflict.”
Interfaith leaders have also rushed to the pope’s defense: The Council on American-Islamic Relations expressed solidarity with the Catholic community Monday, stating that “the president’s mockery of religion is both deranged and insulting.”
Leo has been an increasingly outspoken critic of Trump’s policies in the near-year since he was named pope. The pontiff has repeatedly challenged numerous foreign and domestic agendas of the president, including his framework for the war in Ukraine as well as his administration’s severe immigration crackdown across the United States, which has often centered in the Chicago area where the pope was born and raised.
But the clash between the American president and leader of roughly 1.4 billion Catholics around the globe recently reached a fever pitch over the war in Iran, which Pope Leo has denounced multiple times since the conflict’s Feb. 28 inception.
Leo has opted to attend virtually and instead spend Independence Day on the Italian island of Lampedusa, a major destination for migrant arrivals.
“He’s sending a message that his top priority right now is to be with those who are downcast and marginalized,” Cupich responded during the “60 Minutes” interview.
Trump drew ire for a separate social media post Sunday of an AI-generated Christ-like image of himself.
In the picture, he appeared to be healing a man, with the Statue of Liberty, fireworks, an American flag and a woman with her hands clasped in prayer decorating the background.
Trump has since deleted the image from his Truth Social page, saying he thought the picture depicted him as a doctor.
As for Tylka, the bishop of Peoria said he has purposefully avoided viewing that picture.
“I have not really seen that image, intentionally,” he added. “I would simply say creating images that are disrespectful to people’s faith traditions is not acceptable.”
The Associated Press contributed.