Catholics blame Donald Trump's ai-generated pope picture

The Catholics condemned a planned picture of President Donald Trump, who was disguised as a Pope and called it insulting and disrespectful to further mourn the death of Pope Francis.

Newsweek went to the US conference of the Catholic bishops and the Holy Stuhl Press for a comment by e -mail on Saturday.

Why is it important

Trump's social media post comes during NovelThe nine -day time of the official grief that the Catholic Church observed after the death of a Pope. Until May 4th, daily masses and prayers will be held in honor of Francis, who died on Easter Monday at the age of 88.

His funeral on April 26th at St. Peter's Square brought the head of the head, including Trump, religious leaders from all over the world and the general public. His body was rested in St. Mary Major, one of the four papal basil in Rome.

Trump's post is only carried out for a few days after the president, who is not Catholic, jokingly told the reporters that he “wants to be a pope” and “that would be my first choice”. Trump has also sworn to make Americans “religious”.

What to know?

On Friday evening, Trump released an Ai-Photo of himself in a White Kassock and a miter hat with a large golden cross around his neck. The official X, formerly Twitter of the White House, released the photo again on Saturday.

The contribution was supposedly the topic of several questions during the daily concrete briefing of the Vatican on Saturday, whereby according to the Associated Press local outlets it described it.

Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, now Senator of Florence, criticized the picture in a post on X, formerly Twitter, and wrote that it “insulted believers, insulted institutions and shows that the leader of the right world likes to drive around.”

The Catholic conference of the New York state also condemned Trump's post and called him offensive and mocking.

“This picture has nothing clever or funny, Mr. President,” wrote the group in an X contribution. “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.”

The Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, was tapped by Trump to work in a newly created presidential commission for religious freedom. Newsweek submitted an online contact request for Dolan on Saturday.

The American priest Jesuit and the writer James Martin said that he found the picture “deeply insulting” in a X-Post: “Jesuits should always give people the advantage of doubt. Although I find this deeply insulting, I will assume that Mr. Trump said this carefree almond (although he recently returned from Pope Francis' funeral mass was.

Martin added: “However, imagine the light bulb, the quick conviction and the individual and common protests of the US bishops if this had been done by Joe Biden or Barack Obama.”

Trump Ally, Senator Lindsey Graham, who is not a Catholic, but a southern Baptist, praised the photo and wrote “Seeing is faith! A picture is more than a thousand words …”

A survey by the PEW Research Center, which was carried out by Trump from April 7th to April 13th during the first 100th days, found that the Catholic opinion was divided into its performance. Among the 367 Catholic adults surveyed stated that he had done an excellent or good job, 17 percent said fair and 43 percent said poor. The survey had an error rate of plus or minus 5.5 percentage points.

The same survey showed that 72 percent of the white Protestant Protestants agreed to Trump's work.

The position of the president also led to a series of memes and jokes on this matter.

What people say

The secretary of the White House, Karoline Leavitt, told the Associated Press when he was asked about the criticism: “President Trump flew to Italy to prove his respect and take part in his funeral, and he was a convinced champion for Catholics and religious freedom.”

Michael Steele, a Roman Catholic, former chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Trump critic, who is now MSNBC host, wrote in an X -Post Saturday: “During this time of Novemial (grief for the loss of Pope Francis) I will put this crime aside because Trump travels from our offended crime in his narcissism. More to the point, this confirms how unsafe and incapable that he is. At 78, he remains a 10 -year -old child.

Senator Lindsey Graham posted on X on Saturday: “I am glad to report that President Trump gives a very positive reception and a strong dynamic as the next Pope. But I will first admit that there was a resistance! Must be lowered and plowed up and plowed forward – the noiser can win the day. Next week is crucial because the papal consequence will be convened. Further updates are coming!”

“Republicans against Trump,” wrote a group of GOP supporters who do not support the president in an X -Post Saturday: “More than a billion Catholics still mourn the death of the Pope, but Trump and his allies think it is the perfect time to mock their belief.

What happens next?

Francis' successor is to be selected by members of the College of Cardinals during a papal conclave that is to begin in the Vatican on May 7th.