A MAGA-friendly Catholic bishop on Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission has demanded that the 79-year-old president apologize for his attack on Pope Leo XIV.
Trump is under fire on all sides after posting an unhinged screed targeting the pontiff on Sunday and telling the leader of the Catholic Church to “get his act together,” before depicting himself as Jesus.
Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota has shown strong MAGA sensibilities since Trump returned to power last year, often parroting far-right talking points, praising Trump’s State of the Union speech, and attending a White House event earlier this month where the president was compared to Christ.
Now, though, even he has broken ranks after Trump’s attack on his boss.
“The statements made by President Trump on Truth Social regarding the Pope were entirely inappropriate and disrespectful,” he said on X. “They don’t contribute at all to a constructive conversation. 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 good will can and do disagree.”
Previously regarded as a mainstream evangelist with his own PBS Catholicism series, Barron has appeared to drift to the right over the past year. According to Catholic outlet Letters from Leo, he has shown increased public support for Trump by attacking left-wing figures and echoing the Trump administration’s claims of Somali fraud in Minnesota.
Now, however, he has suggested that Catholic members of Trump’s inner circle should intervene to patch up the damage their boss has caused.
“I would warmly recommend that serious Catholics within the Trump administration—Secretary Rubio, Vice President Vance, Ambassador Brian Burch, and others—might meet with Vatican officials so that a real dialogue can take place,” he said. “This is far preferable to the statements on social media.”
He appeared to hedge his criticism with a bit of praise for Trump.
“I am very grateful for the many ways that the Trump administration has reached out to Catholics and other people of faith. It has been a high honor to serve on the Religious Liberty Commission. No President in my lifetime has shown a greater dedication to defending our first liberty. All that said, I think the President owes the Pope an apology,” he said.
Trump created the Religious Liberty Commission by executive order last May. It is designed to, in its own words, “secure domestic religious liberty,” and is compiled of various religious leaders, including Barron.
After days of condemnation of his war in Iran, Trump attacked the pope in an astonishing Truth Social Post, calling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
“Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!” the post read.
Less than an hour later, he posted a since-deleted image that appeared to be AI-generated, depicting him as Jesus Christ healing a man, with warplanes and bald eagles in the background.
The pope was defiant as he flew to Africa on Monday, telling reporters, “I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do.”
Barron isn’t the only one-time loyalist attacking Trump for his latest crusade. Former ally Marjorie Taylor Greene said his AI depiction of Christ was “more than blasphemy. It’s an Antichrist spirit.”
“I completely denounce this and I’m praying against it!!!” she also said on X.
Iran also pounced on the opportunity, with its president, Masoud Pezeshkian, addressing the pope on social media to say, “I condemn the insult to Your Excellency on behalf of the great nation of Iran, and declare that the desecration of Jesus (peace be upon him), the Prophet of peace and brotherhood, is unacceptable to any free person.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
