There are just over 50 million Catholic voters in the United States, and in the 2024 election 59 per cent of them voted for Donald Trump, compared with 39 per cent for the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. The clash between Mr Trump and Pope Leo risks proving costly for the Republican party, particularly with the midterm elections approaching this autumn.

The US president has accused the pontiff of being “weak on crime”, “terrible for foreign policy” and “too liberal”, even claiming that “if I weren’t in the White House, he wouldn’t be pope” — assertions that resonate with core Maga tropes. Even before the current escalation, Mr Trump’s war against Iran had begun to erode his support. According to a late-March poll, Catholic backing for the commander-in-chief fell below 50 per cent for the first time.

At the heart of the dispute between the Trump administration and Pope Leo XIV lies a theological question. In recent weeks, the pope has repeatedly criticized the US strike on Iran, to which Mr Trump has responded with at times implausible arguments. “I don’t want a pope who thinks it’s okay for Iran to have nuclear weapons,” he said, before adding two days ago: “I’m not fighting with him. The pope made a statement saying Iran can have nuclear weapon.”

Last month, during Easter celebrations, Pope Leo XIV said that God “does not listen to the prayer of those who wage war and rejects it, saying: ‘Even if you multiply your prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.’” The statement was widely interpreted as a direct and forceful criticism of the Trump administration and its actions in Iran. In the following weeks, the pope reiterated his concerns, culminating in the confrontation........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)