Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick sharply criticized President Donald Trump on April 13, after Trump claimed that Pope Leo owed his position to Trump’s political influence. Fitzpatrick called the remarks “beneath the dignity of the presidency” and “an affront to the faithful.”
The statement came several days after increasingly sharp criticism from Trump, who has repeatedly targeted Pope Leo over his comments on the war in Iran, immigration policy and the administration’s mass deportation operations. Trump’s remarks — through Truth Social posts, interviews and exchanges with reporters — have drawn widespread attention and backlash from Catholic leaders in the United States and abroad.
On Truth Social, Trump posted on April 12 that Pope Leo was “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” adding, “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s ok for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.” He added, “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 also claimed that his return to the White House influenced Leo’s election as the pope, writing, “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… If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
Later that day, Trump faced major backlash for posting an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ. Hours later, he deleted the post, telling CBS News he “didn’t want to have anybody be confused” and insisted the image showed him “as a doctor.”
Fitzpatrick, a lifelong Catholic representing Pennsylvania’s first Congressional District, condemned Trump’s posts. “I condemn President Trump’s remarks about Pope Leo in the strongest possible terms,” Fitzpatrick said. “The Holy Father is the successor to Saint Peter, the shepherd of the Church and a moral voice for more than 1.4 billion Catholics around the world. He is not a partisan figure, and the papacy is not an institution to be mocked, politicized or diminished. To suggest that a Pope somehow owes his place to a politician is absurd.”
Fitzpatrick said that Trump’s remarks mischaracterize the role of the papacy, which has long spoken on matters of war, peace and human dignity. “Pope Leo has every right — and indeed the solemn responsibility — to speak clearly on matters of faith, conscience, war and peace and human dignity. That is his role. And no one — president, politician or public figure — can intimidate, demean or bully the Church for carrying out its mission.”
Fitzpatrick urged Trump to retract his statements and reaffirm respect for religious institutions. “President Trump’s comments were disgraceful, beneath the dignity of the presidency and offensive to Catholics in every corner of the world. He should withdraw them and apologize,” Fitzpatrick said.
Pope Leo had responded to Trump’s remarks, saying, “The things that I say are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone, and the message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.”
He added, “I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the church is here to do. We are not politicians, we don’t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the Gospel, as a peacemaker.”