Bishop Barron says Trump ‘owes the pope an apology’

Bishop Robert Barron said Monday that President Donald Trump owes Pope Leo XIV an apology after Trump posted a scathing message about Leo in a Truth Social post. 

"The statements made by President Trump on Truth Social regarding the Pope were entirely inappropriate and disrespectful," Barron said in an X post. "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."

"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 continued. "This is far preferable to the statements on social media."

"I am very grateful for the many ways that the Trump administration has reached out to Catholics and other people of faith," Barron added. "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." 

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Barron’s response was to a Sunday Truth Social post from Trump where the president called Pope Leo out for his stance on foreign policy and the Iran war.

"Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "He talks about ‘fear’ of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart."

Trump went on to say that he likes Louis Prevost, Pope Leo XIV's brother, more than the pope. 

"I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA," the president wrote. "He gets it, and Leo doesn’t! I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country."

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Trump also defended himself, saying he is doing what he was elected to do. 

"And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History," Trump said. "Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise. He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump."

The president added, "If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican. Unfortunately, Leo’s Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me, nor does the fact that he meets with Obama Sympathizers like David Axelrod, a LOSER from the Left, who is one of those who wanted churchgoers and clerics to be arrested." 

"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! President DONALD J. TRUMP," Trump wrote. 

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Pope Leo XIV told reporters on Monday that he is unafraid of Trump. 

"I have no fear of the Trump administration," Pope Leo told reporters on the papal plane traveling to Algeria.

Pope Leo added, "The message of the church, my message, the message of the Gospel: Blessed are the Peacemakers. I do not look at my role as being political, a politician." 

Ashley McGuire, senior fellow at The Catholic Association, said in a statement that the organization, "laments President Trump's disparaging and disrespectful remarks about Pope Leo."

"The Catholic Church does not in any way fit into American political boxes," McGuire said. "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. Love and respect for the Pope is part and parcel of being Catholic. And it is the authority of the Pope to expound on Church teaching about fundamental Christian values taught by Jesus Christ himself, like peace."

McGuire added, "The Trump Administration boasts many serious Catholics and has made strong overtures to Catholics over the years, especially on the matter of religious liberty. These remarks greatly detract from that progress. We pray that President Trump apologizes to Pope Leo and we pray for wisdom and healing after these divisive comments."

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment and was referred back to Trump’s Truth Social post.