Catholic Officials Slam Trump’s ‘Deeply Offensive’ Post Showing Him As Next Pope

An image shared by President Donald Trump depicting himself as the next pope is drawing condemnation among Catholic officials, with it being dismissed as “deeply offensive,” “sad” and “unfortunate.”

The AI-generated image, which shows Trump wearing a white cassock, papal headpiece and gold crucifix while gesturing with his right hand, was posted online Friday by the president and the official White House social media accounts.

It follows Trump joking to the media that he’d “like to be pope” following the death of Pope Francis on April 21.

“It’s sad both for the White House and for the president,” Cardinal Anders Arborelius, the bishop of Stockholm, told The Washington Post. “I mean, he makes themselves ridiculous, right?”

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan also told reporters following a Mass in Rome on Sunday that the post “wasn’t good.”

“I hope he didn’t have anything to do with that,” Dolan said.

The archbishop of Milwaukee, Jeffrey S. Grob, similarly called the post “an unfortunate thing” and disrespectful, particularly given the Catholic Church’s state of mourning.

The image of President Donald Trump dressed as pope was printed on the front page of an Italian newspaper Sunday in Rome.

via Associated Press

“The church, Catholic Church, is in a period of mourning over the death of Pope Francis, and now it’s a pivotal moment, looking into the future,” he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “And so, it’s a very serious time. And whoever it is, wants to quip and make fun, be it Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam. ... We’ve lost great respect for moments like this.”

Illinois Bishop Thomas John Paprocki also condemned the imagery as “deeply offensive to Catholics” and said Trump owes “Catholics and all people of good will” an apology.

“By publishing a picture of himself masquerading as the Pope, President Trump mocks God, the Catholic Church, and the Papacy,” he posted on social media.

President Donald Trump, seen center in blue, attends the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square on April 26.

Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images

The New York State Catholic Conference also spoke out, saying there’s “nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President.”

“We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St. Peter. Do not mock us,” the organization said on X, formerly Twitter.

Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism as an adult and met with Pope Francis in Rome the day before his death, acknowledged some of the criticism Saturday by waving the imagery off as a harmless joke.

“As a general rule, I’m fine with people telling jokes and not fine with people starting stupid wars that kill thousands of my countrymen,” Vance responded to criticism by Bill Kristol, who called the image disrespectful and a mockery.

Kristol served as chief of staff to the vice president in the George H.W. Bush administration and later was an advocate for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.