Maryellen Lewicki meets weekly for Bible study with a group of Catholic women in Decatur, Georgia, in a space they try to keep free of politics. Yet Donald Trump’s name still comes up.
“We each pray for one person during the week,” she said. “My friend mentioned that she prays for the president every day—that God will remove his hard heart and replace it with a softer, more loving one.”
Lewicki attends St. Thomas More in an affluent Atlanta suburb. Most of the congregation at this Jesuit church and school are politically progressive, reflecting the surrounding community. An image of Trump depicted as Christ healing the sick, which Trump posted and then removed from his social media this week, has done little to change local opinions about the president.
In an age of political outrage, Americans’ capacity for shock has worn thin. But the response from Trump and other Republican leaders and supporters to criticism from Pope Leo XIV over the war in Iran has put that notion to the test.
The pope has been broadly and consistently critical of war, with pointed criticism of American attacks in Iran. On Palm Sunday, the pope—who is American—condemned the use of religion to justify violence. During Mass in St. Peter’s Square, he said God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.”
His remarks follow months of papal criticism regarding the treatment of refugees in the United States, as well as a statement from American archbishops in February opposing the administration’s refugee and immigration policies—an unusually forceful stance by the Church’s historical standards.
Trump’s response to the Palm Sunday homily described Leo as “weak on crime” and implied his papacy is due to Trump’s influence—a continuation of the polarizing rhetoric that has defined his presidency.
“If you’re an American, you don’t want to see your president feuding with the pope,” said Taylor Marshall, a vocal Catholic conservative with a large YouTube following. “And if you’re Catholic, it’s difficult. If you voted for Trump three times and want to remain faithful and submit to the Holy Father, it’s tough to see the leader of your nation in a dispute with the leader of the Catholic Church on Earth. It is for me.”
Marshall attributed Trump’s recent conduct to the president’s struggle to process the soft power of an American pope—a challenge to Trump’s view of himself as the most powerful person in the world.
The pope “is in charge of 1.4 billion—not million, billion—people, and he has the nerve to interject his moral authority into President Trump’s actions? I really think that’s where this starts. It’s a philosophical problem President Trump was never prepared for, and I think he’s still trying to figure out how to handle it.”
About 53 million Americans are Catholic, making it the largest Christian denomination in the United States, according to Pew Research and others. Roughly one in five voters is Catholic. Compared to other American Christians, Catholic voters have split their support between parties over the years, with no presidential candidate receiving 60% or more of the Catholic vote in the last half-century. In the past six presidential elections, a majority of Catholic voters have sided with the winner.
Trump won 52% of the Catholic vote in 2016 and 55% in 2024—a 12-point margin over Kamala Harris. However, 52% of Catholic voters supported Joe Biden, who became the second Catholic president in U.S. history.
White Catholic and Hispanic Catholic voters differ sharply in their political preferences. White Catholics have increasingly aligned with Republicans.Over the past decade, white Catholics have increasingly shifted toward the Republican Party, while Hispanic Catholics have also moved in that direction, though at a slower pace. More than 60% of Hispanic Catholics vote for Democrats. According to Pew Research, about 40% of Catholics in the U.S. are Hispanic.
Since Pope Benedict XVI’s leadership ended, the papacy has become more critical of American policy, with Pope Francis emphasizing the treatment of immigrants and refugees as central to church teachings. Despite this, about half of U.S. Catholics voted for Donald Trump.
“For the better part of the last hundred years, Catholics have been at the heart of every conservative revolution in this country,” said Matthew J. Cressler, a Catholic historian. His forthcoming book, Catholics and the Making of MAGA: How an Immigrant Church Became America’s Law and Order Faith, is set to be published next year.
“The fact that it was clear Pope Francis stood on one side of certain justice issues that Trump was on the other side of didn’t drive Catholics away from Trump, clearly,” Cressler added.
The question now is whether Trump’s recent commentary may be the last straw for some Catholic voters.
According to a poll conducted by Shaw & Company Research and Beacon Research from March 20 to 23, Trump had already been losing support among Catholic voters even before his controversial comments about Pope Leo or posting an AI-generated image of himself as Christ on social media. His support had fallen to 48%, with 52% expressing disapproval. The poll also highlighted sharp divisions among Catholics, with 40% strongly disapproving of Trump and 23% expressing approval.
At the time of the poll, Trump’s support among Catholics was still seven points higher than his overall public support. However, support for the war—and for Trump—has steadily eroded in polls since the U.S. began attacking Iran and petroleum prices spiked after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Last week, three Catholic cardinals criticized the conflict on CBS’s 60 Minutes. Trump’s lieutenants have at times framed the war with Iran as a holy war, despite many theologians arguing that it fails to meet the criteria of moral justice under Christian doctrine.
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men,” said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, quoting from the movie Pulp Fiction during a sermon at the Pentagon on Wednesday. Hegseth’s use of a fictional Bible quote may be seen as a lesser sin compared to Trump’s depiction of himself as Christ.
Pope Francis’s comments in Cameroon after Trump’s social media post indicated no intention to soften his criticisms. “Blessed are the peacemakers!” he said. “But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”
The response from the administration and its supporters in government has done little to bolster Catholic support. Vice President JD Vance, a recent convert to Catholicism, told the pope on Tuesday to “be careful” when discussing theology. House Speaker Mike Johnson later suggested that the pontiff does not understand “just war” moral philosophy, despite the pope being a scholar of Saint Augustine, the fourth-century theologian who first articulated the idea in Christian theology.
“Pope Leo began right out of the gate of his papacy speaking to this time and age, saying, ‘I get your politics; that’s not what this is,'” said Michael Steele, former lieutenant governor of Maryland and RNC chairman, on a podcast hosted by Catholic Charities. Steele is a Catholic seminarian trained in the Augustinian order.
“This is about your responsibility to live out the gospel, which has no political orientation, no ideological roots,” Steele said. “It is grounded in the word of God himself, and if you can’t do that, then maybe you need to sit in y—”Stay in your room a bit longer and sort things out before you go out into the world and cause problems for everyone else.
Trump supporters often criticize the pope for not condemning Islamist terrorism and Iran’s repression of dissent as strongly as he does American militarism. However, even this view receives a mixed reaction among politically conservative Catholics.
Michael Knowles, a prominent Catholic conservative commentator, dismissed such criticism, calling it a political operation. “This is an anti-Catholic, and coincidentally anti-Trump, move to drive a wedge between Catholics and the president, and the president and Catholics,” he said.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about the division among US Catholics regarding the conflict between the President and the Pope framed in a natural tone with direct answers
Beginner Definition Questions
1 Whats the basic conflict between the President and the Pope
The core conflict centers on political and policy differences particularly regarding abortion LGBTQ rights immigration and social justice The Pope as a religious leader emphasizes Church teaching and a seamless garment ethic of life while the President as a political leader supports policies that align with his partys platform which sometimes directly contradicts Catholic doctrine
2 Im not Catholic Why should I care about this
This conflict highlights a major tension in American life how people of faith especially in a large influential group like Catholics navigate loyalty to their religious beliefs versus their political identities Its a case study in the ongoing debate about religion morality and public policy in a pluralistic democracy
3 What does it mean that US Catholics are divided
It means there is no single Catholic vote Many Catholics prioritize the Churchs opposition to abortion above all else while others prioritize the Churchs teachings on social justice immigration and care for the poor This leads to internal conflict and debate
Intermediate Why Questions
4 Why is this such a big deal for Catholics specifically
Catholics have a long tradition of looking to the Pope as the ultimate spiritual authority When a prominent Catholic politician publicly supports policies the Church condemns as morally wrong it creates a crisis of conscience and authority for many believers It forces them to choose between their political leader and their spiritual leader
5 Can the President be denied Communion because of his stance on abortion
This is the most heated practical question Some US bishops believe he should be denied Communion as a consequence for persistently supporting abortion rights seeing it as a scandal Others including the Pope have generally cautioned against using the Eucharist as a political weapon emphasizing pastoral care and dialogue instead
6 What is the seamless garment teaching and why is it relevant
Also called the consistent ethic of life this Catholic teaching argues that protecting life is a unified issueopposing abortion
