Trump faces backlash from Chicago Catholics for criticism of Pope Leo XIV, posting AI image appearing to show him as Jesus

The back and forth between President Trump and Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV continues to make waves, as the president has lashed out at the pope's criticism of immigration raids in the U.S. and the war in Iran, while the pontiff has said he has "no fear" of the Trump administration.

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.

Minutes after that segment ran on "60 Minutes," the president posted an angry response on Truth Social, calling the pope "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," suggesting Leo was only elected pontiff because the Vatican thought it would be the best way to deal with Mr. Trump in office.

"We don't like a pope that's going to say that it's okay to have a nuclear weapon. We don't want a pope that says crime is okay in our cities," the president told reporters late Sunday at Joint Base Andrews. "I don't like it. I'm not a big fan of Pope Leo. He's a very liberal person."

The president later posted an AI-generated image appearing to depict him in the likeness of Jesus, prompting online outrage. Mr. Trump initially defended the photo, insisting it showed him as a "doctor," but later deleted it without an apology.

"I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with the Red Cross. There was a Red Cross worker there, which we support, and only the fake news could come up with that one," the president said before taking down the picture.

Pope Leo, on his way to a visit to Algeria, shrugged off the president's criticisms.

"I have no fear of the Trump administration, nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am called to do," he said.

Chicago Catholics drew a hard line at that AI image appearing to depict the president as Jesus.

"Nobody should compare to Jesus," Horacio Aguirre said.

"I'm not really a fan of it, especially when I saw the image that Trump had posted this morning," Steve Lennertz said.

Others outside Holy Name Cathedral simply called the feud between Pope Leo and President Trump "ridiculous."

"I support the pope, pretty simple. End of story," said Beth Lestingi. "I think the pope can stand up for himself, and I think all Catholics will stand behind him."

"I'm with peace in the world. I'm with the pope," said Maime Abbate.

Christopher Hale, who is writing a book about Pope Leo and American politics, said the president will need to find some kind of "exit ramp" from this situation.

"He's going to be asked at every press gaggle from here ad infinitum, will he apologize to Pope Leo? There's going to have to be some sort of reconciliation of sorts, or he's going to have to say something nice about him, because I don't think the story does go away," Hale said.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, takes issue with what he calls "the gamification" of how the White House has portrayed the war with Iran on social media. He's called videos posted of bombings in Iran "sickening."

"We're dehumanizing the victims of war by turning the suffering of people and the killing of children and our own soldiers into entertainment," Cupich said. 

When asked, he acknowledged that some parishioners may not want to hear politics from their priests. 

"I say fine. I want to preach the gospel," Cupich said. "God wants us to promote peace in the world because His desire is that we be one human family."

The pope and the Catholic Church have a long history of talking politics, warfare, and international relations, said William Schweiker, professor emeritus of theological ethics at the University of Chicago's Divinity School.

"The Pope is exercising, what's called the Magisterium, along with his bishops and archbishops, which is the teaching ministry of the church. He's trying to teach Christians about what it means to follow the Prince of Peace," he said.

In 2003, Pope John Paul II strongly opposed the second Iraq war, declaring, "war is always a defeat for humanity."

Hale pointed out the pushback against the Iraq war wasn't as intense against President George W. Bush, because – unlike the war with Iran – there was broad support for that war among Americans in general and Catholic Americans, specifically.

Vice President JD Vance on Monday tried to downplay the newly ignited back-and-forth feud between the pope and president, saying that it's common for the U.S. and Vatican to have policy disagreements.