For decades, conservative Catholics and the religious right have prayed for a “red”-blooded American pope. Someone who would place the Vatican’s authority behind their vision of American superiority and exceptionalism, all the while keeping his mouth shut about political issues like climate change and immigration.

Last year, it appeared they got their wish—or at least part of it—when Robert Francis Prevost, at the age of 69, and the son of a Chicago firefighter, became Pope Leo XIV. President Trump praised Prevost’s election as a “very meaningful moment.”

That faith quickly waned.

While quiet and calm at first glance, Leo speaks with the bluntness of a man who learned early how to tell hard truths to people who don’t want to hear them. He also had a history of criticizing Trump and his administration, particularly on matters of immigration.

And in the first month of the war with Iran, seemingly at every public opportunity, Leo has spoken out against the conflict. The tension between His Holiness and Trump—as well as other administration officials—reached a surreal moment this week, underscoring a broader schism between the papacy and Washington D.C. After Trump warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight” unless Iran capitulated, Leo didn’t offer vague prayers for peace.

In an unusual gaggle with the press, he called Trump’s threat “truly unacceptable.” Unlike the garrulous and garbled Trump, Leo........

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