The archbishop of Milwaukee had strong words for President Donald Trump making light of the Catholic Church’s most serious mourning period, saying it was “very unfortunate,” but also added that the country needs to continue to pray for the president.
Trump’s White House posted an AI-generated image of the president dressed as the pontiff late Friday, just as the church is set to begin a conclave later this week to elect a new pope.
Pope Francis, 88, a humble reformer who sought to make the Catholic Church more inclusive and clashed with world leaders over the rights of immigrants, died Easter Monday from double pneumonia.
Last week, Trump joked that he would “like to be pope.” He then posted the digitally doctored image of himself wearing a white cassock and papal headdress, with his forefinger raised, to social media accounts, including the official X account for the White House.
It came less than a week after Trump, who is not Catholic, attended Francis’ funeral in Vatican City.
“I guess I find it to be an unfortunate thing,” said Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob in an interview with the Journal Sentinel May 4 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.
“In my own understanding just of what it means to be a Christian and a person of good will is to be respectful of other people’s circumstances,” Grob said. “The church, Catholic Church, is in a period of mourning over the death of Pope Francis, and now it’s a pivotal moment, looking into the future
“And so, it’s a very serious time. And whoever it is, wants to quip and make fun, be it Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam … We’ve lost great respect for moments like this. And so it is what is, I guess, but it’s very unfortunate.”
New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who was formerly archbishop of Milwaukee, also disapproved of Trump’s post. When asked by reporters May 4 about the image, Dolan replied that he hoped Trump “didn’t have anything to do with that.”
“Well, you know, it wasn’t good,” added Dolan, who has been floated by Trump as a candidate to be the next pontiff.
The conclave is set to begin May 7. Grob hopes for a “true leader” that can guide the church amid the problems of the world.
“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to look at the vast needs of so many parts of the our world at war, the disrespect of peoples, just the uncaring, the hatred, the racism, the violence. And sometime you think, has religion had any effect? We believe it does.”
Grob said he’s not expecting an apology from Trump for the image.
“An apology, I guess, is always good, but the damage has been done,” he said. “And again, it speaks to more of the person.
“So in turn, we are praying for the conclave and we have to pray for (Trump) too. He’s a human person. … We have an obligation to pray for him, to pray for our country.”
