Catholics criticize Trump after publishing the picture of himself as a Pope

Washington days before Cardinals gather for the papal conclave to choose the next head of the Catholic Church, President Donald Trump published an apparently generated picture that is a Pope.

The picture published on Friday, which was reinforced by the White House, did not go well with a group of Catholics who were taken over on social media over the weekend to condemn the presentation.

“This picture has nothing clever or funny, Mr. President,” said the X -account for the New York State Catholic Conference, which represents bishops in the state that work on initiatives on public politics.

“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,” continued the post and referred to the first Pope. “Don't mock us.”

The picture that seems to be created by artificial intelligence shows the president in white Catholic inner in white, similar to Francis and its predecessors. In the picture, the president also wore a large cross chain and was sitting on a chair with golden accents.

Trump posted the picture in Truth Social on Friday evening, and the white house strengthened the position shortly afterwards.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan from New York, who was appointed as a member of the White House religious freedom commission on Thursday, told Anne Thompson from NBC News that the picture was “not good”. In Italian, Dolan added that the picture left a bad impression.

Dolan will be among the more than 100 cardinals that gather in the Vatican from May 7th to choose a new Pope.

Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, a Trump critic, said in a contribution to X that the image of the president “insulted the believers, insulted institutions, and shows that the Global law leader is happy to be a clown,” said Google Translate Interpretation.

James Martin, a Jesuit priest who acts as publisher of the Jesuit publication America Magazine, also said in a contribution to X that “although I find this deeply insulting, I will assume that Mr. Trump meant the carefree.”

“But imagine the incandescent lamps, the quick condemnation and the individual and common protests of the US bishops if this had been done by Joe Biden or Barack Obama,” added Martin.

The White House did not immediately answer a request for comments on Sunday afternoon.

But Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, stressed the controversy. He replied to a post by Bill Kristol, the editor of the Bulmak and the director of the joint defense of democracy, which marked Vance and asked whether he was “okay with this disrespect and mockery of the Holy Father”.

“I am usually okay when people who tell jokes, and not good with people who start stupid wars, kill the thousands of my compatriots,” replied Vance.

The Associated Press also reported that the press spokesman for the White House, Karoline Leavitt, answered criticism and said: “President Trump flew to Italy to fulfill Pope Francis and take part in his funeral, and he was a convinced champion for Catholics and religious freedom.”

Last week Trump also joked that he would like to be a Pope Francis' successor.

“I want to be a Pope. That would be my number a choice,” Trump told reporters.

Francis died on April 21 at a brain, the coma and a “cardiocirtuatoric breakdown”. He was 88.