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Why Pope Leo Gets Under Trump’s Skin

The Catholic Church’s power is on the wane—but it now has a pope who is to the left of many US institutions and enrages the president by expressing his convictions.

As is the case with so many of its forays, it’s hard to figure out the endgame of the Trump administration’s belligerent clash with the Vatican. There was more than a touch of mockery to The New York Times’ April headline “Vance Says the Pope Should Be More Careful When Talking About Theology.” The vice president converted to Catholicism (loudly) seven years ago and has not taken kindly to Pope Leo XIV’s exhortations to avoid bloodshed (or shelter the immigrant, or abide by any number of the core tenets of Catholic social teaching). The contretemps, while alternately entertaining, infuriating, and baffling, does not tell us much we didn’t already know about the current White House. But what does it tell us about the current Catholic Church? What, if anything, do the agnostic, the irreligious, or the non-Catholic religious need to know about it?

The irenic tenure of the late Pope Francis, who welcomed trans Catholics and denounced unrestrained capitalism, piqued a lot of secular interest. And secular, religious, and lapsed observers alike have been trying to read the tea leaves of this new papacy ever since the election of the first American pope last spring. His public statements have been quickly seized upon and claimed (or denounced) by various political factions; there’s an online cottage industry dedicated to interpreting them. Leo’s choices do invite these reactions. It’s hard to imagine that his decision to include Isaiah 1:15 (“Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: Your hands are full of blood”) in his Palm Sunday homily in St. Peter’s Square was unrelated to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s worship service several days earlier, in which he prayed for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”

Nation readers are likely encouraged by the pontiff’s........

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