Trump draws criticism with AI image of himself as a Pope

New York (AP) – President Donald Trump posted an artificially intelligent picture of himself as a Pope as a grief of Pope Francis Continued and just a few days before the conclusion to choose, his successor should begin. Trump's campaign pulled Raduk from a group that Catholic bishops represented in New York and among Italians.

The picture, which was published on Friday evening on Trump's truth and later by the White House in his official X report, brought the eyebrows on social media and in the Vatican, which is still in the period of nine days of official grief after Francis' death in the time of official grief April 21. The Catholic cardinals celebrate daily masses in his memory and open the conclave to choose his successor on Wednesday.

The death of a Pope and the choice of another are a question of the extreme ceremony for Catholics, for which the Pope Christ is vicar on earth. This is all the more true in Italy, where the papacy itself is highly valued by non -religious Italians.

The picture with Trump in a White Kassock and a pointed miter or Bishops Hut was the topic of several questions during the daily conflict briefing of the Vatican on Saturday. Italian and Spanish news complained about its bad taste and said it was insulting because the time of official grief is still in progress.

Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said the picture was shameful. “This is a picture that insults believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the right world likes to drive around,” wrote Renzi about X.

The Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni refused to comment.

In the United States, the Catholic conference of the New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the state's bishops in cooperation with the government, accused Trump of Spott.

“This picture has nothing clever or funny, Mr. President”, ” They wrote. “We have just buried our beloved Pope Francis, and the cardinals will just enter a solemn conclave to choose a new successor to St. Peter. We didn't mock us.”

Italy's left -wing La Repubblica also showed the picture on his homepage on Saturday with a comment in which Trump accused “Pathological Megalomania”.

The White House did not immediately answer questions about the counter reaction to the picture or why the president had shared the picture.

But Jack Posobiec, a well -known right -wing influencer and Trump allied, who recently participated in a Catholic prayer event in Trump's Florida Resort in March in March.

“I am Catholic. We all made jokes about the upcoming Pope selection all week. It is called a sense of humor.” He wrote about X.

The episode comes after Trump was interested in his interest in the empty space last week. “I want to be a Pope. That would be my number a choice,” said reporters three times Catholic President, who is not Catholic.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a tight ally of Trump, stacked.

“I was excited to hear that President Trump is open to the idea of ​​being the next Pope. This would really be a candidate for dark horse, but I would ask the papal conclave and the Catholic believers to keep open to this opportunity!” Graham, Rs.c., wrote about X. “The first combination of Pope-US president has many top speeds. I pay attention to white smoke … Trump mmxxviii!”

Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic and was one of the last foreign officials who meet with Francis before the Pope died, too Joked about Foreign Minister Marco Rubio To become a pope and suggest that Rubio could add it to the long list of the titles he put into operation, including the national security consultant and incumbent archivist.

Apart from the job for the job, Trump also used a plug for Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York.

“I have no preference. I have to say we have a cardinal who happens to be a place called New York that is very good. So we will see what happens,” he said.

The 75 -year -old Dolan is one of 10 US cardinals that become a complaining, but Trump's Pitch may have cost the support of Dolan.

The reason why the implies are held in secret, with the cardinals confiscated for the duration, the effects of external powers that affect their selection, as in previous centuries.

There is an old saying about the campaign for the task of Pope or about being excessively promoted, in particular from outsiders: If you “enter a conclave as a Pope, go as a cardinal.”

While Trump took part in the funeral of Francis, he and Vance with US bishops in general and Francis in particular have conflict in conflict via the hard line of the government to immigrate and their efforts to deport migrants. Shortly before he was hospitalized for pneumonia in February, Francis gave a Strong complaint the mass deportation plans of the administration and the theological justification of Vance.

In more than 12 years, Francis tried to redesign the Catholic hierarchy of the US Catholic hierarchy, and increased pastors that prioritized social justice and migration problems in front of cultural warriors, which of his stronger predecessors of Johannes Paul II and Benedict XVI. A new Pope who is more conservative could reverse this effort.

Trump nominated Brian Burch as his ambassador in the Holy chair, whose Catholicvote.org Covered the days before the conclave in the Vatican. It was one of the main disseminators in English -language media of a report that was rejected by the Vatican and officially rejected that Cardinal Pietro Parolin had a health shell last week that required medical help.

Parolin was the foreign minister under Francis and is seen as a leading candidate as a Pope. He is also the main architect of the China policy of the Vatican and his controversial contract for Bishops nominations of Beijing 2018 – – A deal that was sharply criticized by the first Trump government.

___ Winfield reported from the Vatican City.