The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, spoke out this Monday regarding the rising public tension between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, defending the right and duty of the Church to express opinions on political matters, and suggesting that Trump likely regrets posting an image that depicted him with a biblical appearance.
The immediate trigger of the dispute was twofold: Pope Leo XIV condemned the absurd and inhumane violence of the war in Iran -which has lasted seven weeks- and described Trump's threat to annihilate Iranian civilization, stated on Easter Sunday, as "truly unacceptable."
That same night, Trump posted on Truth Social an image showing him in a biblical-style robe, apparently healing a sick man with his hands filled with light. The post was deleted the following morning.
Religious and political leaders from around the world condemned the image, with some labeling it a sacrilege. Trump responded to the Pope by calling him "weak on crime" and "terrible for foreign policy."
Wenski, in an interview granted this Monday, was direct: "The Pope does not have to please anyone except the Lord."
Regarding the image posted by Trump, the archbishop noted that it is more damaging to the president's own image than to the Catholic Church.
"As Christians, we should all strive to resemble Jesus, not in appearances, but in our actions," he said.
"I think he probably regrets it," stated Wenski.
"The fact that it has been removed, and now the president says he thought it was an image of a doctor, suggests that he is providing some sort of explanation."
Trump stated in a press conference this Monday that he thought the image represented him as a healer, not as a deity.
Wenski emphasized that clashes between the Church and political leaders are not new, citing the precedent of Pope John Paul II, who strongly opposed the Iraq war and made his position known directly to then-President George W. Bush.
What the archbishop does find unusual is that Trump directly attacked the leader of the Catholic Church in response to his criticisms.
"As religious leaders, we must be political but not partisan," Wenski said about the Pope.
"Politics is about how we organize society... and the church has something to say about that," he added.
The archbishop was clear that the Church does not seek to please any side: it will upset people on the right, and at other times, it will upset people on the left, and that, he said, is a sign that "we are doing our job."
The papal Pope Leo XIV, for his part, responded to reporters this Monday from his plane, on an apostolic journey to Africa, that "he is not afraid of the Trump administration nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for."
Wenski concluded with a reflection on the position of practicing Catholics in the current political landscape: "A Catholic trying to live by those teachings will feel at home in none of the parties at this moment."
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