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Bishop Robert Barron said Monday that President Donald Trump owes Pope Leo XIV an apology after Trump sent a scathing message about Leo in the book Truth Social.
“The statements made by President Trump on Truth Social about the Pope were completely inappropriate and disrespectful,” Barron said in an X post. “They do not participate in constructive debate at all. It is the Pope’s prerogative to define Catholic doctrine and principles governing the moral life. As to the definitive application of those principles, people of good heart can agree and disagree.”
“I would warmly recommend that sincere Catholics within the Trump administration — Secretary Rubio, Vice President Vance, Ambassador Brian Burch, and others — meet with Vatican officials to have a real conversation,” he continued. “This is much better than statements on social media.”
“I am very grateful for the many ways the Trump administration has reached out to Catholics and people of other faiths,” Barron added. “It has been a great honor to serve on the Commission on Religious Freedom. No President in my lifetime has shown greater dedication to protecting our basic freedoms. All that said, I think the President should apologize to the Pope.”
VATICAN REFUSES TO JOIN TRUMP’S GAZA ‘PEACE BOARD’, DEMANDS UN LEADERSHIP
Bishop Robert Barron, accompanied by President Donald Trump and other faith leaders, speaks during the National Day of Prayer ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House on May 1, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Barron’s response was to Trump’s Sunday Truth Social post in which the president called out Pope Leo for his stance on foreign policy and the war on Iran.
“Pope Leo is TIRED of CRIME, and he is bad at Foreign Policy,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He talks about the ‘fear’ of the Trump administration, but he doesn’t talk about the FEAR of the Catholic Church, and all other Christian organizations, that they had during the time of COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and all other people, for holding Church services, even if they were outside, and at a distance of ten or even twenty meters.”
Trump went on to say that he likes Louis Prevost, the brother of Pope Leo XIV, more than the pope.
“I love his brother Louis much better than him, because Louis is all MAGA,” wrote the president. “You get it, and Leo doesn’t! I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for the United States to invade Venezuela, a country that was sending a lot of drugs to the United States and, worse, releasing their prisoners, including our murderers, murderers, and drug killers.”
JD VANCE ADMITS HE SPOKE ‘VERY DIFFERENTLY’ WITH US BISHOPS ON IMMIGRATION ISSUE.
Pope Leo XIV speaks to the media about the US-Israel conflict with Iran, as he leaves the papal residence to return to the Vatican, in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, April 7, 2026. (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters)
Trump also defended himself and said that he was doing what he was elected to do.
“And I don’t want the Pope criticizing the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected to do, IN THE LORD, record low numbers in crime, and create the largest market in history,” said Trump. “Leo should be grateful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking miracle. He was not on the list of any kind to be Pope, and he was put there only by the Church because he was American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”
The president added, “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican. Unfortunately, Leo’s Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, doesn’t sit well with me, and the fact that he is meeting with Obama’s Patriots like David Axelrod, a LOST from the Left, one of those who wanted the priests to be arrested and imprisoned.”
“Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It hurts him a lot and, more importantly, it hurts the Catholic Church! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” wrote Trump.
POPE LEO CHOOSES NEW VATICAN AMBASSADOR AS TRUMP FUELS ON POLICY
Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus prayer at the window of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on March 1, 2026. The pope warned that the escalation of violence in the Middle East risks becoming an “irreparable abyss.” (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters)
Pope Leo XIV told reporters on Monday that he is not afraid of Trump.
“I am not afraid of Trump’s administration,” Pope Leo told reporters on the papal plane to Algeria.
Pope Leo added, “The message of the church, my message, the message of the Gospel: Blessed are the peacemakers. I do not see my role as politics, a politician.”
Bishop Robert Barron, head of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota, condemned the display of the Last Supper that was revealed at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Paris. (Word on Fire Ministries)
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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment and was referred back to Trump’s Truth Social post.
