Pope Leo XIV and President Donald Trump

I don’t know what outlet this is. It’s called Vantage. There’s an F. in the corner. Is it Forbes? But the content is just horrible. There are many in the press, it seems, who want to make Pope Leo the great crusader against all things Trump. Listen to this video. They have a clip of Pope Leo talking about the tensions in Venezuela (this was before Trump removed Maduro and took him into custody). He says that “On the one hand, it seems there was a conversation on the phone between the two presidents. On the other hand, there is this danger, the possibility of an operation, including an invasion of Venezuelan territory. I don’t know more.” Now, to my ears, that’s Pope Leo simply laying out what he knows about the situation. But to the reporter, this comment inspires the question, “Why is Pope Leo going against President Trump?” She is purposefully (well, not she, the people who wrote her script) portraying Pope Leo as an adversary of President Trump, when there’s nothing in Pope Leo’s statement that honestly recommends that. Now, Pope Leo did recommend dialogue as a way of decreasing the tensions. But what else would we expect of the pope? This is anti-Trump? Why isn’t it anti-Maduro? It’s not like Maduro was offering daisies to Trump. Also, the reporter falsely claims that White Catholics “largely” support Trump’s immigration policy. She also falsely says that Hispanic Catholics oppose Trump’s immigration policy. In fact, 54% of White Catholics support Trump’s immigration policy, leaving a significant minority opposed. Among Hispanic Catholics, a slim majority actually support Trump’s immigration policy, 41% to 39%. This video report strikes me as more based on stereotypes and wishful thinking than on the facts. But the real laugher is her final comment: “Religious authority in 2025 is no longer silent or passive. It is entering debates on migration, on war, and on climate.” She had said earlier that the pope usually “steers clear” of political situations. Okay, where have these people been for the last two millennia? When has the Catholic Church or her popes ever been silent or passive about politics? Nevermind the last two millennia. Where have they been the last fifty years? The papacies of Popes St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis were replete with the popes sticking their noses into politics, as well they should!

It is true that Leo has spoken out against Trump’s immigration policy, a policy that treats people who have been in the U. S. for 10, 15, 20 years and made an effort to make a better life for themselves in much the same way it treats gang bangers and cartel members. And, he’s right! That is not treating people with respect. You don’t treat a young man who was brought here by his parents when he was two-years-old and who has received his education here and graduated from college or learned a trade and is working diligently and abiding by the laws of our land – you don’t treat him the same way you treat gangsters, drug lords, or jerks who came here to game the system. Well, Donald Trump does.

But, as far as I can tell, Pope Leo has not uttered a word of condemnation of Trump’s actions in Venezuela, including his taking Maduro into custody. This is what the pope has said: “The good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration and lead us to overcome violence and to undertake paths of justice and peace, safeguarding the country’s sovereignty, ensuring the rule of law enshrined in the Constitution, respecting the human and civil rights of each person and of all, and working to build together a serene future of collaboration, stability, and concord, with special attention to the poorest who suffer because of the difficult economic situation.”

Let’s parse this out a bit. Pope Leo is mostly concerned about the people of Venezuela, as he should be – and as Donald Trump should be. He says the good of the people must prevail. No slap on Trump there, really, because the good of the people most certainly was not prevailing under the Maduro regime, and Pope Leo knows that. Being a bishop in Peru, he witnessed the refugees pouring into his country fleeing the catastrophe that Venezuela was under Chavez and Maduro. He called for paths toward justice and peace – again, this could be interpreted as hope for the future of the country now that Maduro is gone. He called for safeguarding Venezuela’s sovereignty. Okay, maybe we have something here. But, so far, Trump hasn’t indicated he wants to make Venezuela the 51st state (he’s saving that for Canada!). And it’s hard to argue that Maduro was much interested in Venezuela’s sovereignty when he was a tooly for the Chinese and he stole the country’s most recent election.

What’s next? Oh, “ensuring the rule of law enshrined in the Constitution, respecting the human and civil rights of each person and of all.” Again, this could be interpreted as much as a prayer of hope for the future. Maduro, who had no concern for the law, the Constitution, or the human and civil rights of the people, is gone now. Maybe the people of Venezuela will build a government that will respect its Constitution, as well as the law of the land, as well as the human and civil rights of the people. Will Trump work toward that? I don’t know. Let’s hope so, and if he doesn’t, let’s put the pressure on him to do so.

Finally, Pope Leo hopes that those who have the future of Venezuela in their hands will work “to build together a serene future of collaboration, stability, and concord, with special attention to the poorest who suffer because of the difficult economic situation.” Of course, Pope Leo is going to offer a word of special concern for the poor. But no where in this statement which, as far as I know, is all he’s said about Venezuela since Trump overthrew Maduro, is the slightest hint of condemnation of what Trump has done. I’m not saying Pope Leo is happy with what Trump has done. All I’m saying is he’s not made himself out to be the anti-Trump the press wants to make him out to be. Oh, and that “difficult economic situation” Leo mentioned? That was created by Maduro and his policies. Pope Leo knows that.

But, guess what? American Catholics who support Trump and have the habit of forming their faith based on their politics instead of forming their politics based on their faith, will buy into the notion that Leo is the anti-Trump hook, line, and sinker. Many onlookers, even those looking on from within the walls of the Church, identified Leo as a left-wing, socialist, communist from day one – and they will not abide any consideration of the facts. Their world is binary, that is, you either love Trump, or you’re a communist. Now, not all Trump supporters are that way. There are plenty, maybe most, who are only too happy to say they disagree with Trump on certain issues and policies. Even Charlie Kirk said he didn’t want Canada to become part of the United States (because we already have too many liberals!). But there is that cohort of Trump supporters who regard Trump as a can-do-no-wrong president. So much so that, if Trump announced that the sky was green and the ocean purple, well they’d just have to reconsider how they’ve looked at the world all these years. “By golly, it does kinda have a purple hew to it!”

But, I digress. The bottom line is, it seems to me that the press is trying it’s darndest to make Pope Leo out to be the good guy, or the bad guy, in the Trump drama, however way you look at it, with little to no grounds whatsoever. Not being an idiot, I think Pope Leo knows that any outright condemnation of Trump on the matter of Venezuela isn’t going to achieve anything. The truth is, Venezuela is Trump’s baby now. What he does with it, we can only wait and see. We hope for the best. But let’s not pretend that Pope Leo going head-to-head with Trump on the matter is going to be for the good of anyone, much less the people of Venezuela, about whom the pope seems to be genuinely concerned. Somehow, I think Pope Leo knows that, too.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.