Chicago faith community stands up for Pope Leo XIV amid back-and-forth with President Trump
Chicago's faith community stood up for Pope Leo XIV over the weekend, as the pope pushed back on claims that he is clashing with President Trump.
President Trump has been lobbing insults at Pope Leo XIV in response to the pope's criticisms of the war in Iran and appeals for peace, marking an unusually pronounced rupture between the leaders of the world's most powerful country and the world's largest Christian denomination. Among other things, President Trump has called the pope "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy."
The feud intensified following a "60 Minutes" story about tensions between the president and the pope, in which three influential American cardinals — including Chicago's Cardinal Blase Cupich — explained why the Catholic Church under Leo has emerged as a voice of moral opposition to the war in Iran and the crackdown on immigration.
The back-and-forth between the President of the United States and the pope is not one that many Catholics could have predicted. On Sunday, religious leaders in Chicago came to the defense of Chicago's pope.
After mass at St. Sabina in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on Sunday, the Rev. Michael Pfleger led an interfaith show of support for the pope.
In the latest back-and-forth between the pope and the president, Pope Leo said his recent message of peace was not political, and was not aimed at President Trump.
"The talk that I gave at the Prayer Meeting for Peace a couple of days ago was prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting," Pope Leo said, "and yet at it happens it was looked at as if I was trying to debate again the president, which is not in my interest of all.
Days ago, Vice President JD Vance urged the pope to stick to matters of morality. But this past weekend, Vance wrote on social media: "Pope Leo preaches the gospel, as he should, and that will inevitably mean he offers his opinions on the moral issues of the day."
Vance nevertheless got pushback of his own.
"Mr. JD Vance is unqualified to speak on the word of God to the pope," said U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Illinois).
Other leaders in the Catholic Church have also continued to defend the Holy Father.
"So far, the majority of our Catholics, they are very happy with our pope," said Archbishop Ronald Hicks of New York. "They are embracing his message, and he's showing them a way of what dialogue looks like, of what leadership looks like, of how to direct our lives in a proper way."
This past week, President Trump also defended his decision to post an AI image of himself as Jesus — a move that Chicago local political and religious leaders blasted.
"This past week, we were deeply offended, hurt that people have now chosen to chastise the pope — a man who has spoken brilliantly on love on faith and on hope," said Rep. Jackson.
"Our faith stands for the most vulnerable," added Pfleger. "It's not a political thing. It's a faith thing."
And while the pope said his message is rooted in faith rather than politics, Chicago local religious leaders said they plan to keep speaking out and standing with him.
