Commentary by John Frankman
I was shocked when I saw these recent posts of Trump. It took me some time to reflect on them to think of what to make of it. As someone who discerned the Catholic priesthood for 4 years but also someone who voted for Trump all 3 elections and campaigned for-and even met-him in the last one, these posts did not sit right with me.
I am first and foremost a Catholic Christian. Being Catholic doesn’t mean believing the Pope is infallible in all of his statements, but it does mean a certain deference is owed to him. He isn’t beyond critique, and he absolutely should be criticized when it’s warranted. Cardinal Prevost (before he was Pope Leo) was not my top choice for Pope, by any means, but I still will give credit when it’s due and constructive criticism only when beneficial for the building up of the Church.
To begin, the post of Trump depicted as a Messiah figure was beyond distasteful and was outright sacrilegious. Christians just celebrated Easter, and we recognize that Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, God made man, is the savior of mankind. Temporal leaders can certainly make a real difference in advancing the common good, but they receive their authority from God. As Jesus said to Pilate, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above” (Jn 19:11).
Trump’s critique of the Pope came across as pompous and disrespectful, and it was tone-deaf, especially to American Catholics. It’s unclear what his goal was with the post, but if it was meant to win over the Pope or Catholics to his point of view, it failed.
I was shocked when I saw these recent posts of Trump. It took me some time to reflect on them to think of what to make of it. As someone who discerned the Catholic priesthood for 4 years but also someone who voted for Trump all 3 elections and campaigned for-and even met-him in… pic.twitter.com/8tC3hBKfZ4
— John Frankman (@JohnFrankmanFL) April 13, 2026
That said, it is worth analyzing the substance of his critique. It is true the Church gravely mishandled COVID. Instead of placing their hope in God and prioritizing eternal life, they gave way to unwarranted fear and prioritized “health and safety,” even though every COVID protocol seemed to do more harm than good. In doing so, the Church lost a great deal of its moral credibility. I pray that she repents of her decision to shut down churches and deprive the faithful of the sacraments during a great time of need, especially now that more data shows lockdowns didn’t work. At the same time, Operation Warpseed was a serious failure and COVID shots have caused more harm than good for many. Thus it’s odd for Trump to criticize the Church on this issue when his administration also mishandled Covid.
Regarding offensive military actions taken by the US the last year, the Church will always call for peace and negotiations. The Church isn’t a pacifist institution, however, and has had a long held standard for when it is morally legitimate to wage war called Just War Theory. Regarding Iran, her main concern is the loss of innocent life. The Church, like many others including myself, did not think Iran posed an immanent threat to our country or any other, so she condemned these offensive actions. This shouldn’t surprise the President. If he wants to make the case why this war must be waged right now he certainly can; but it should be done in a respectful manner and he shouldn’t be surprised if the Catholic Church disagrees with him.
We also don’t know why Pope Leo was elected. We hope the Cardinals prayed for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and selected the best candidate to carry out the Church’s mission: to continue Christ’s work on earth. However the Cardinals are humans and can make errors. (It is quite possible they didn’t listen to the Holy Spirit and errored when they elected Pope Francis, though God in His providence will bring good from hat situation). Personally, I’m more inclined to think the practical reasons had more to do with repairing damaged relations with the United States and finding someone better at fundraising to address the Vatican’s financial troubles.
The Catholic Church has lost much of its moral authority through the years. For decades it failed to use its legitimate authority to restrict Catholic politicians who support abortion, euthanasia, and same sex marriage from receiving communion. Because of that, her interventions in other areas, matters of prudence like the best approach to immigration, come across as partisan, especially when Church leaders don’t speak as forcefully on those clear, black-and-white moral issues. This in turn weakened her ability to speak from a position of moral authority regarding the U.S. more recent military actions and has led many individuals of a more conservative bent to be wholly dismissive of anything the Pope and other Church members have to say on this topic.
I hope President Trump apologizes for this post and avoids posts like this in the future. This will allow him to work with Christians throughout the country in pursuing the common good.
I’m also a Catholic and will never abandon the faith, even though I am often disheartened by the choices the Church makes. I stick around the Church because she is the mystical body of Jesus Christ and He is her leader. I think the Church is correct in urging us towards peace. I do hope she takes a stronger stance on black and white issues so she recovers her moral authority and her voice is taken more seriously.
