President Donald Trump’s recent attacks on Pope Leo XIV are drawing harsh backlash from Christian leaders in Northwest Indiana.
Diocese of Gary spokeswoman Colleen McGinty Rabine said Bishop Robert McClory was at a private retreat, but she said McClory endorsed a Sunday statement from Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“I am disheartened that the President chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father,” said Coakley. “Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”
Trump lashed out at Pope Leo, the first U.S.-born pope in history, in a Sunday social media post saying the pontiff is “WEAK on crime,” and said he didn’t want “a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States.”
“I’m not a fan of Pope Leo,” Trump later said to reporters on Sunday after deplaning in Washington from a flight to watch a UFC fight in Miami.
Soon after, Trump posted an apparent AI-generated image that depicted him as a Jesus-like figure performing an act of healing on a sick man. Trump later deleted it, saying he thought he was being portrayed as a doctor.
Trump’s wrath at Pope Leo kindled when the U.S. and Israel began bombing Iran.
“Stability and peace are not achieved through mutual threats, nor through the use of weapons, which sow destruction, suffering, and death, but only through reasonable, sincere, and responsible dialogue,” said Pope Leo when the war began.
The pope has been defended by religious leaders from different denominations across the U.S.
“He’s not saying anything different than the message some of us delivered from our pulpit Sunday morning,” said the Rev. Dwight Gardner, of Trinity Baptist Church in Gary.
“He is the leader of the Catholic church which makes his perspective more relevant,” Gardner said.
“We are required by our faith to speak truth to power. It can be costly, but it’s necessary and I applaud the pope,” said Gardner.
The Rev. Tim Leitzke, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Valparaiso, said he wasn’t surprised at Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo, who was born and raised in Chicago.
“I think the statements Pope Leo has made are very measured, very well thought out and very agreeable. This should not be controversial,” he said.
“The level of blowback from the administration is about what I expected,” he said of Trump’s posts.
Leitzke said Trump’s post of the image of himself as a Christ-like figure was in poor taste.
“A number of church members have called it blasphemous, and I would have to agree,” he said.
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The Rev. Leah Peksenak, of the Hobart First Methodist Church and the Marquette Park Methodist Church in Gary, criticized Trump.
“It feels sort of unprecedented for the president to feel like he can talk back to the pope and that he would presume some kind of religious authority since he’s in a secular office,” she said.
She said the United Methodist Church condemned Trump’s threat on April 7 to destroy the civilization in Iran.
“In the face of war and threats of genocide, we reaffirm our Social Principles’ call to ‘deplore war’ and to ‘pursue peaceful settlement,’” Council of Bishops President Tracy S. Malone said.
“We reject any language or action that endangers civilians or threatens to destroy entire civilizations, and we raise a prophetic call to our leaders, urging them to persistently choose the path of peace.”
Pope Leo pushed back over the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, telling reporters that the Vatican’s appeals for peace and reconciliation are rooted in the Gospel, and that he doesn’t fear the Trump administration.
“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 aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria on Monday. “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 said he was not making a personal attack on Trump.
“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 said.
The Associated Press contributed.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.