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Catholics across the United States are once again invited to support the annual Catholic Home Missions Appeal, with most dioceses scheduled to take up the collection the weekend of April 25–26.

The nationwide effort provides essential financial assistance for dioceses and eparchies that are unable to sustain core pastoral and evangelizing ministries on their own due to limited financial resources, small Catholic populations, or communities spread across wide geographic areas.

Coordinated by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB), the appeal supports nearly 75 Latin-rite dioceses and Eastern Catholic eparchies in the United States and its current and former territories. These mission dioceses are often located in rural regions or small cities where priests often serve multiple parishes separated by long distances.

Seasonal employment, economic challenges, and shifting demographics can further complicate efforts to maintain consistent parish life and diocesan ministry.

The appeal is intended to help bridge those gaps by supporting core areas of diocesan life, including priestly formation, catechesis, evangelization, and parish-based ministry. Grants also assist with practical needs that vary by region, such as transportation for clergy serving remote communities and resources for dioceses responding to changing cultural realities. 

In announcing this year's appeal, Bishop Chad W. Zielinski, chair of the bishops' Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions, pointed to the missionary pattern of Christ's own ministry.

The Catholic faithful who give to the Catholic Home Missions Appeal are mirroring Jesus, who "spent little time in cities but built his ministry in fishing villages and rural areas," Zielinski said in an April 9 statement.

He also highlighted the spiritual dynamic at the heart of the mission, drawing on the Gospel account of the Samaritan woman at the well, commonly known in Eastern Christian tradition as St. Photina.

"The work of the Catholic Home Missions Appeal reflects Jesus's encounter with the 'woman at the well,' whom Eastern Christians call St. Photina," Zielinski said. "She was an outcast in a community that was considered heretical and that many of Jesus' followers avoided. After talking with him, Photina evangelized her neighbors (John 4)."

He added that many of today's mission dioceses reflect the same openness to the Gospel despite difficult circumstances.

"Most of our mission dioceses are in remote, rural areas, or communities with economic and social challenges," he said. "Yet they are filled with people like St. Photina, who thirst for the Gospel and are eager to spread its life-changing message."

Recent funding from the Catholic Home Missions Appeal has provided more than $8.1 million in assistance to mission dioceses, the USCCB noted. The grants support a wide range of pastoral needs that reflect the diversity of Church life across the country and its territories.

In Alaska, assistance helps cover the cost of fuel for seaplanes used by priests traveling to island villages, enabling access to the sacraments in remote communities. According to the release, in the Diocese of Dodge City in Kansas, funding has supported the expansion of Spanish-language ministry, including printed resources, diocesan retreats, and bilingual personnel serving growing Hispanic populations.

Other dioceses have used grant support to strengthen targeted pastoral initiatives. For instance, the Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, has deepened its outreach to vulnerable expectant mothers through the USCCB's Walking with Moms in Need initiative, engaging parishes in local support. The Diocese of Belleville in Illinois has supported a full-time college campus minister who accompanies students in faith formation and vocational discernment, including encouragement toward the priesthood.

In American Samoa, the Diocese of Samoa-Pago Pago continues to operate five Catholic schools across seven islands, providing educational opportunities in a territory where geographic isolation and economic pressures remain significant challenges.

As parishes prepare for the collection, Church leaders are encouraging Catholics to see the appeal as a practical expression of solidarity with mission dioceses that depend on shared support to sustain parish life and evangelization efforts.

"Your generosity shows Catholics in remote areas that the Church stands with them," Zielinski said, "and that Jesus is calling them to embrace his mercy and share his message as St. Photina did."

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The Polish Bishops' Conference is working with national authorities to prepare an action plan for potential armed conflict, reflecting growing security concerns in the region.

The initiative follows discussions held during the 404th Plenary Assembly of the Polish Bishops' Conference. On March 17, Poland Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz and Minister of the Interior and Administration Marcin Kierwinski met with bishops at the conference's general secretariat in Warsaw.

In an April 7 interview with the Polish Press Agency, Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, president of the Polish Bishops' Conference, said the preparations were driven by widespread concern over regional instability.

"There are fears that the war will reach Poland, which is understandable," Wojda said. "Fortunately, we are not standing idly by, waiting for events to unfold."

Coordinated Church-state response

At the center of the effort is a newly established working group within the bishops' conference composed of representatives from multiple institutions, including Caritas Poland. The group is collaborating with both the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of the Interior to develop coordinated responses to crisis scenarios.

According to Wojda, the plan includes provisions for assisting civilians, supporting refugees, and ensuring access to essential resources such as generators, water, medical supplies, and hygiene products. Government authorities have indicated that such materials would be made available to parishes in the event of a national emergency.

The working group is also developing protocols for the evacuation of cultural and religious heritage sites, the establishment of humanitarian corridors, and the identification of safe locations where civilians could seek shelter.

Role of parishes on the front line

Church leaders expect that parishes will play a critical role in any crisis response. Poland has more than 10,000 Catholic parishes nationwide, making the Church one of the country's most extensive and trusted local networks.

Wojda explained that the Polish government realizes that in a crisis situation, "most Poles will first turn to the Church for help, and only then to municipal institutions and offices." Therefore, it is important to have access to resources that will allow civilians to survive in a crisis.

To prepare for this responsibility, the conference is developing practical guidelines for clergy. Training sessions and workshops are already underway in some dioceses, often in collaboration with Caritas Poland, which has extensive experience in humanitarian aid.

Wojda stressed that priests are aware of the potential challenges. "They understand the problem they may have to face," he said, adding that bishops are being kept regularly informed of the preparations.

Broader regional context

The initiative reflects heightened awareness in Poland of security risks linked to the ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine and broader geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe.

While Poland has not been directly involved in armed conflict, its proximity to the front lines and its role as a key NATO member and logistical hub for Ukraine have heightened concerns about potential spillover effects.

Church and state officials have framed the preparations as a precautionary measure aimed at safeguarding civilians and maintaining social stability. Observers have largely viewed the development positively, noting that the Catholic Church's extensive parish network and centralized structure position it as a uniquely effective partner in crisis response.

This evolving role raises broader questions about the place of religious institutions in modern European societies: whether the Church can serve not only as a moral authority but also as a stabilizing force in times of crisis, and how such cooperation between ecclesial and state structures may shape future responses to conflict and humanitarian emergencies.

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ANNABA, Algeria — Pope Leo XIV traveled Tuesday from Algiers to Annaba — ancient Hippo — in what for the Augustinian pontiff amounted to a return to the roots of his faith and vocation.

After a flight of about an hour, Leo arrived in the city most closely associated with St. Augustine, who served as bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430. For the pope, a son of St. Augustine, the visit marked a homecoming of sorts.

It was in Hippo that St. Augustine died at about age 75 while the city was under siege by the Vandals. His remains were first buried in the basilica there. To protect them from desecration, Augustine's body was later moved first to Cagliari and then, around 723, transferred to Pavia by the Lombard king Liutprand. His relics are now venerated in the Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, which Pope Leo is scheduled to visit on June 20.

Over the centuries after Augustine's death, Annaba — once Hippo — was conquered first by the Byzantines and later destroyed by the Arabs in the seventh century, before being rebuilt under the name Annaba.

Among the surviving remains from the Roman era are the paved forum surrounded by columned porticoes, the theater, the market, Severan baths, cisterns, and figurative mosaics. Christian-era elements also remain, including the Basilica Pacis, where St. Augustine carried out his episcopal ministry, and its adjoining baptistery.

Upon arriving at the archaeological site, Pope Leo XIV was greeted by a local official. Despite driving rain and a shorter visit than originally planned because of the weather, the pope walked through the ruins and, at the end of the route, laid a wreath of flowers.

The choir of the Annaba Institute of Music then performed songs in Latin, Berber, and Arabic based on texts by St. Augustine dedicated to peace and fraternity. After a brief prayer, the pope departed the archaeological site.

Leo was then set to continue to the Little Sisters of the Poor's home for the elderly, where he was to stop briefly to greet residents.

This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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Vice President JD Vance on Monday defended President Donald Trump's decision to post and later delete an AI-generated image that critics said depicted the president as Jesus Christ, calling it a joke that people misunderstood.

"I think the president was posting a joke and, of course, he took it down because he recognized that a lot of people weren't understanding his humor in that case," Vance told Fox News' Bret Baier on "Special Report."

"I think the president of the United States likes to mix it up on social media," Vance added. "And I actually think that's one of the good things about this president, is that he is not filtered."

Earlier Monday, the president told reporters at the White House that the image depicted him as "a doctor" and "a Red Cross worker," not as Jesus, as many understood it. He added: "Only the fake news could come up with that one."

"I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with the Red Cross as a Red Cross worker there, which we support," Trump said.

The deleted post

The apparently AI-generated image, posted to Trump's Truth Social account on Sunday evening on Orthodox Easter, showed the president in a white robe and red sash. Both hands emitted a golden light, with one resting on the forehead of a man in a hospital bed. The American flag, the Statue of Liberty, military jets and floating human figures in the sky filled the background. The post contained no caption.

Trump shared the image shortly after publishing a series of posts attacking Pope Leo XIV, calling the pontiff "weak on crime, and terrible for foreign policy" over his opposition to U.S. military operations in Iran.

The now-deleted image drew swift backlash from across the political spectrum, including from prominent conservative and Christian commentators who are typically supportive of the president. The post was deleted later on Monday.

Vance addresses U.S.-Vatican tensions

In his Fox News appearance, Vance — a Catholic convert — also addressed the broader friction between the White House and the Vatican.

"When it comes to the disagreements with the Vatican, look, we're going to have disagreements, from time to time," Vance said. "I think it's a good thing, actually, that the pope is advocating for the things that he cares about."

He added: "We can respect the pope. We certainly have a good relationship with the Vatican. But we're also going to disagree on substantive questions from time to time. I think that's a totally reasonable thing. It isn't particularly newsworthy."

Pope Leo XIV, speaking to journalists aboard the papal flight to Algiers on Monday, responded to the controversy: "I have no fear neither of the Trump administration nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel," the pope said.

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, said he was "disheartened" by Trump's remarks about the pope, calling Leo "the vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls."

It is not the first time a Trump social media post depicting himself in religious imagery has caused controversy.

In May 2025, the president posted an AI-generated image of himself dressed as the pope shortly after the death of Pope Francis. That post drew condemnation from Catholic leaders, including Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Vance at the time dismissed that controversy as well, saying he was "fine with people telling jokes."

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The U.S. State Department confirmed active enforcement of visa restrictions for individuals responsible for religious persecution abroad.

Mark Walker, U.S. principal adviser for global religious freedom, said the U.S. is following through on its commitment to restrict visas for perpetrators of religious persecution abroad.

In December 2025,?Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced restriction of U.S. visas under the Immigration and Nationality Act for "those who have directed, authorized, funded, significantly supported, or carried out violations of religious freedom," Walker said in an April 10 post. "We have already executed on this policy and we will continue to subject perpetrators to additional scrutiny."

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"If you engage in persecution, you are not welcome in America. The United States is safer when we keep those responsible for?religious persecution from entering our homeland," he said.

Rubio said in a Dec. 3, 2025, statement: "The United States is taking decisive action in response to the mass killings and violence against Christians by radical Islamic terrorists, Fulani ethnic militias, and other violent actors in Nigeria and beyond."

Rubio said the policy would hold accountable "individuals who have directed, authorized, significantly supported, participated in, or carried out violations of religious freedom and, where appropriate, their immediate family members."

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Two U.S. Catholic bishops sent a letter to newly-confirmed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin asking him to prevent immigration authorities from detaining pregnant women and nursing mothers.

"No matter one's immigration status, there is no overarching justification for separating nursing infants from their mothers or endangering the health and safety of pregnant women or their preborn babies," Diocese of Toledo, Ohio, Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Diocese of Victoria, Texas, Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chair of the USCCB Committee on Migration, said in a letter.

"In this regard, we urge you in the strongest possible terms to extend the administration's commitments on life to all vulnerable mothers, infants, and children in the womb," the Ohio and Texas bishops added.

The bishops said they wrote the letter due to "alarming reports of pregnant mothers not getting the medical care they need while in immigration detention, tragically resulting in miscarriage in some cases, as well as reports of nursing mothers being separated from their babies" during detentions by U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE), which DHS oversees.

No matter one's immigration status, there is no overarching justification for separating nursing infants from their mothers...

Bishop Daniel Thomas and Bishop Brendan Cahill

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

In the letter, the bishops said they are writing "as pastors compelled by the Gospel's call to uphold the dignity of human life."

"Agency policy still recognizes the vulnerability of these women and their children by generally discouraging their arrest and detention; unfortunately, that policy seems to no longer be followed in practice," they wrote.

The bishops asked that ICE adhere to Directive 11032.4 on the "Identification and Monitoring of Pregnant, Postpartum, or Nursing Individuals," which states that ICE should generally avoid the detention of pregnant women and nursing mothers for an administrative violation of immigration laws.

"[Following this directive] would be consistent with this administration's recent pro-life actions, including those explicitly welcomed by the USCCB's Committee on Pro-Life Activities in January," the bishops wrote.

The bishops also reiterated their concerns from last year when they said U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) rescinded certain protections for pregnant women and nursing mothers.

Last May, both committees wrote that the CBP change was "deeply troubling and inexcusable."

The USCCB has been at odds with President Donald Trump on immigration policies throughout his presidency. Trump has voiced support for mass deportations of immigrants who entered the country unlawfully, while the bishops have echoed Pope Leo XIV's calls for immigration policies that are less harsh.

In November, the bishops voted 216-5 to approve a message that opposes "the indiscriminate mass deportation of people." In February, the USCCB urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold birthright citizenship, calling the Trump administration's efforts to take it away "immoral."

Mullin is replacing former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was removed from her post and given a role as special envoy for "The Shield of the Americas." In March, the USCCB told EWTN News that the bishops planned to advocate for "just immigration policies that recognize the God-given dignity of all involved" when Mullin took over as secretary.

In their letter on concerns for pregnant women and nursing mothers in detention, the bishops also congratulated Mullin on his confirmation.

"We pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you in your continued service to our country," the bishops wrote.

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Pope Leo XIV visited the community of Augustinian Missionary Sisters in the Algiers neighborhood of Bab el Oued on Monday and honored the memory of two Spanish religious who were shot to death 32 years ago. The sisters had gone to a chapel to attend Sunday Mass.

Sister Esther Paniagua Alonso, 45, was the first to die. She was shot three times in the head just as she was about to enter the Chapel of St. Joseph in the residence of a small community of French nuns.

Also shot was Augustian Sister Caridad Álvarez Martín, 61, who accompanied Sister Esther to the chapel. A native of Burgos, Spain, she passed away hours later in the emergency department of Ain Naya military hospital, where she had been transported by ambulance.

Doctors spent three hours attempting to save her life, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Sister Caridad, as she was known in religious life, died on the operating table with one bullet lodged in her brain and another in her neck, after suffering three cardiac arrests and hemorrhaging.

The murder of Esther and Caridad was not an isolated incident; rather, it occurred within a context of escalating violence against religious personnel. Months earlier, in May 1994, two other missionaries had been killed.

A year earlier, the Armed Islamic Group had declared it would kill all foreigners.

The political crisis in Algeria during the 1990s triggered the Algerian Civil War, in which between 100,000 and 200,000 people were killed.

Sister Maria Jesús Rodríguez, who at the time served as the provincial superior of the Augustinian Missionaries, told the Pontifical Mission Societies that it was because of this heightened danger that the bishops of Algeria requested that religious communities ensure "no one remain in Algeria unless they did so in complete freedom and having made that decision on a personal level."

In October 1994, Rodríguez traveled to Algiers and engaged the 12 nuns living there in a process of discernment regarding the course of action they would take.

For several days, accompanied by the then-archbishop of Algiers, Henri Teissier, the nuns undertook a process of personal and communal discernment.

The issue was clear: Should they stay or leave? Both options were "legitimate," but the decision entailed assuming an obvious risk. "The threat was threefold," according to Rodríguez: The sisters could be killed "for being foreigners, for being Christians, and for simply being there."

On Oct. 7, 1994, each of the sisters freely expressed her decision. All of them chose to stay. They commended to God their choice during the Eucharist. "We felt freer after having made that decision," Rodríguez noted.

'No one takes our lives from us, for we have already given them up'

"The question 'And what if something happens to you?' would invariably come up during meals, to which the sisters would reply: 'If something happens to us, no one takes our lives from us, because we have already given them up,'" recalled Rodríguez, who remained in Algiers for a few weeks and was still there when Esther and Caridad were killed. The two died on World Mission Sunday.

The two murdered consecrated women were among the 19 Martyrs of Algeria who were beatified by Pope Francis in 2018.

Following the recognition of their martyrdom, their families and fellow sisters were able to return to Bab El Oued in 2018. Among them was Ana Maria Guantay, the current superior general of the Augustinian Missionaries.

"After a very long time, we were able to return to the house, and in the chapel we celebrated the first Eucharist since their martyrdom. I get emotional when I recall it, because it was a place made sacred by the lives of the sisters; one could say that even the walls exuded their presence, for it was there that they prayed, discerned, and wept over the people's suffering and [their own sense of] powerlessness," she told the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Currently, the Augustinian Missionary Sisters have transformed the house into a center for welcome and friendship for Algerian women and children.

"We help these children experience peace; that it's possible to live together, regardless of our cultures or religious traditions: God makes us brothers and sisters through goodness, through love, and through our capacity to help one another get back on our feet," she explained.

Pope Leo visited the community in 2009 when he served as prior of the Augustinians.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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Religious Liberty commissioners met for the final scheduled meeting and urged that the commission continue to "persevere in monitoring" threats to religious liberty.

Chair Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Vice Chair Ben Carson hosted the April 13 meeting with members Ryan Anderson; Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota; and Allyson Ho among others on the panel that was created by President Donald Trump to advocate for freedom of religious belief.

They discussed recommendations to Trump on how to protect religious freedom and reflected on the past year of sessions. While the hearing was the last scheduled meeting, many proposed that it continue to meet in some capacity as "threats to religious freedom both at home and abroad are not disappearing anytime soon," Barron said.

Reiterating a statement he said at the first hearing, Barron said: "The principal enemy of religious liberty in our country is what I call the ideology of self invention."

"This is the philosophical program that denies the objectivity of moral values and the stability of human nature, and which proposes consequently that individual choice alone is the determiner of purpose and meaning," he said.

"This dictatorship of relativism has taken hold in many of our institutions of government, education, and health care and its advocates correctly recognize that their most important intellectual opponents are precisely those who subscribe to traditional religion," he said.

"It's no exaggeration to say that the proponents of the culture of self invention want religion out of the pivotal institutions of our society," he said.

"This philosophical opposition manifests itself in a number of concrete ways," Barron said. He detailed "the anti-religious violence that's been increasing dramatically in our country over the past five to 10 years," including attacks on churches, statues, and religious peoples.

"In regard to health care, the culture of self invention expresses itself in an aggressive attitude toward those physicians and nurses who refuse on religious grounds to participate in certain medical procedures," he said.

It is seen in "mandates regarding abortion and contraception, IVF insurance mandates to which Catholics strenuously object, and the requirement to perform so-called gender transition surgeries," Barron said.

Also, "under this health care rubric, we should continue to advocate for pro-life demonstrators who simply want the right to pray at sites where abortions are being performed," Barron said. Criminalizing such righteous activity is a gross violation of religious liberty, he said.

Barron detailed the need to protect religious social service organizations, including Catholic Charities, promote parents as most important educators of their children, and never require priests to break the seal of confession because it is a "gross violation of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment."

Barron also noted the need to continue to work against the rise of antisemitism, which is "encouraged by figures on both the left and the right sides of the political spectrum."

The bishop concluded by addressing immigration, saying the Church "insists that those Catholics who are incarcerated in connection to immigration violations have a right to humane treatment and access to the sacraments," he said.

Catholics who are incarcerated in connection to immigration violations have a right to humane treatment and access to the sacraments.

Bishop Robert Barron

Member, Religious Liberty Commission

"I … urge the president to allow this commission to continue in some form going forward," Barron said. He added: "I believe it's very much in the national interest to persevere in monitoring them."

"Yes, we would like to continue," Patrick said in agreement. "Our charter expires in a couple of months, and I think if we all sent a letter and signed it to the president, we'd like to continue to monitor the outcome and to continue to have hearings as needed as stories break and news breaks would be a great privilege."

Protection of faith-based organizations

At the final session, the commission also welcomed two panels of witnesses to discuss how religious liberty has facilitated human flourishing in American history and how faith communities help to combat problems facing the U.S. today.

The panel included testimony from Sister Mary Elizabeth, SV, a Sister of Life ministering to women and children in need, who spoke about the important work faith ministries accomplish and the threats facing them today.

"Ours is just one of thousands of religious ministries seeking to be such a light in the world to create a society in which people are cared for, valued, and protected," Sister Mary Elizabeth said.

The Sisters of Life engage "in a variety of works in order to share this love" through ministering to women and children in need, helping women facing crisis pregnancies, and assisting those who are recovering from abortion, she said.

She detailed legal issues the sisters have faced including in 2022, when "the state of New York passed a law targeting our ministry to pregnant women," she said. "It allowed government officials to force pregnancy centers, but only those that do not perform abortion, to turn over internal documents, including sensitive information about the women we serve."

She also addressed the "dangerous" situation facing the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne in New York who have provided comfort and nursing for patients with incurable cancer for 125 years, but the government is warning them about restricting rooms and bathrooms to one sex and failing to use preferred personal pronouns for transgender patients.

"Jesus said, 'Whatsoever you do to the least of these, you do to me.' So our religion actually impels us forth to charitable service to others," she said.

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Catholic bishops and U.S. elected officials have publicly criticized the president's statements about Pope Leo XIV.

President Donald Trump called Leo "weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy" in a lengthy social media post April 12 that drew response from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and elected officials. On April 13, Trump said he would not apologize to Pope Leo. "Because Pope Leo said things that are wrong," Trump said.

Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, called Trump's attack on Pope Leo XIV "disrespectful." Barron, who serves on Trump's Religious Liberty Commission, said in a post on X that Trump's comments "were entirely inappropriate and disrespectful" and "I think the president owes the pope an apology."

"[Trump's comments] don't contribute at all to a constructive conversation," he said. "It is the pope's prerogative to articulate Catholic doctrine and the principles that govern the moral life. In regard to the concrete application of those principles, people of goodwill can and do disagree."

Barron encouraged Catholic Trump officials to arrange a meeting with Vatican officials "so that a real dialogue can take place," saying "this is far preferable to the statements on social media."

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, said in a social media post: "Along with Archbishop [Paul] Coakley, president of the USCCB, and my brother bishops, I was disheartened by recent comments from President Trump concerning Pope Leo XIV and the Church. I pray that civility and respect are fully restored as together, with God's grace, we work for peace and harmony among all people. May we also be united in our prayer for the end of war and violence so that Christ's peace reigns throughout the world and in our hearts."

Palm Beach, Florida, Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez posted on X: "The @DiocesePB stands firm with our Holy Father, @Pontifex, and strongly rejects the disrespectful and violent attacks that Donald J. Trump has directed against the Holy Father."

Buffalo, New York, Bishop Michael Fisher posted on X: "This is not about politics but the very cause of humanity."

The Catholic Association's Ashley McGuire said in a statement: "The Catholic Church does not in any way fit into American political boxes. It will always prioritize the protection of innocent life in all its stages as well as the cause of the poor and marginalized. Insulting the pope, and all Catholics by extension, with the hope of making the Church bend to American political agendas, is discouraging and counterproductive."

McGuire added: "We pray that President Trump apologizes to Pope Leo."

U.S. officials' reaction begins

Republican Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, has not yet commented on the matter, nor has Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also a Catholic.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, who is Catholic, posted on X that "I find it abhorrent that the president of the United States would publicly attack the successor of St. Peter."

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on X that Trump "shamefully attacked" the pope. Few Republican elected officials have spoken out.

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Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on X: "Hey @GOP, you good with your guy directly attacking the pope now?"

Rep. Lukas Schubert, a Republican Montana state lawmaker, disputed the president's statement that the pope is a "liberal person."

"Pope Leo is significantly further to the right than President Trump on abortion, gay marriage, and family values. Also he is more America First on the Iran War," Schubert said.

AI image

Trump also posted, and later deleted, an AI-created image on Truth Social that appeared to portray himself as Jesus Christ, healing the sick, which led several Catholics to accuse the president of blasphemy.

Edward Feser, a Catholic philosopher and professor at Pasadena City College, posted on X that Trump's comments illustrate "how utter enslavement to the sin of pride makes a man unsuitable for the presidency."

"For all their faults, previous presidents had the visceral understanding of proper boundaries not to attack the vicar of Christ even when they disagreed with him," he said.

Feser quoted Daniel 11:36-37 in response to Trump's AI image of himself as Christ, which reads: "And the king shall do according to his will; he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods … He shall not give heed to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all."

In reaction to the AI photo, Matt Fradd, the host of "Pints With Aquinas," urged Catholics to "offer a rosary today for Donald Trump and all blasphemers. ... Seriously. Do it. I will too."

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Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, did not directly reference Trump's remarks about the pope but criticized the AI-created image on X: "There aren't enough words to denounce how wrong this is."

The comments came after Leo criticized the Iran war and Trump's rhetoric about targeting the entire civilization of Iran. Leo said in response to the post: "I have no fear neither of the Trump administration nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel."

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Republican congresswoman who was a strong ally of Trump before splitting with him on the Iran war and his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, posted on X that Trump "attacked the pope because the pope is rightly against Trump's war in Iran and then he posted this picture of himself as if he is replacing Jesus."

"This comes after last week's post of his evil tirade on Easter and then threatening to kill an entire civilization," she said. "I completely denounce this and I'm praying against it!!!"

'Fuels division'

Father Robert Sirico, the founder of the Acton Institute, said in a statement that Leo "has both the right and the duty to speak prophetically on matters of war and peace, the dignity of the human person, and the moral limits of force — even when his words discomfort political leaders."

He said Trump's post does not "strengthen America's moral standing but "merely fuels division."

Sirico also added that Catholics can disagree with popes on prudential judgments, such as foreign policy or crime, which he said are not infallible: "The Church herself teaches that such applications of principle admit of legitimate debate."

Toby Capion contributed to this story.

This story was updated at 11:50 a.m. ET on April 13, 2026, with comments from Buffalo, New York, Bishop Michael Fisher and The Catholic Association's Ashley McGuire. It was further updated at 1:45 p.m. ET on April 13, 2026, to indicate that Trump refused to apologize and that the AI post was deleted.

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