Donald Trump's escalating clash with Pope Leo XIV has forced American Catholics into an uncomfortable reckoning about where their faith ends and their politics begin, with church attendees around Atlanta finding themselves defending their church leader even as they continue backing the president.
The rupture began in late February when the U.S. started military operations in Iran. Pope Leo responded consistently, invoking Christ as a "King of Peace" who rejects war. By Easter, Trump was threatening to bomb Iranian civilian infrastructure and destroy an entire civilization. The pope called the threats "unacceptable." Three American cardinals appearing on 60 Minutes questioned the morality of the strikes.
Trump responded with venom on Truth Social, branding Leo "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy." He then posted an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ before a heavenly host. Though Trump later deleted it, claiming he thought he was being portrayed as a doctor, the damage was done.
At Saint Monica Catholic Church in Duluth, Georgia, after a traditional Latin mass, Alex Sullivan wrestled with the conflict. A self-described conservative who once worked for a libertarian state representative, Sullivan acknowledged Trump "got over his skis a little bit" with his papal criticism. But he refused to waver in his support for the pope.
"No, I will not support the pope any less," Sullivan said. "There have been times in the past when this pope or the prior pope have done things that I struggle with. Usually I have to pray about it, and sometimes I have to be OK with not being OK with what he said and just living in that tension."
That tension has become the defining feature of American Catholic life. Alex Aboutanos, a software engineer in Duluth, saw Trump's feud with Leo as historically inevitable, echoing struggles between Roman emperors and the papacy. But tone matters, Aboutanos said. "I can disagree with my own personal father, but I don't speak to him like that. I don't name-call him," he said.
Nick Dicarlo, an operations manager and conservative voter, called the AI image of Trump as Christ a "pretty major problem." He said the president needs to "publicly recant it" because "that's something that needs some reparation."
Kate Stroth, who attended mass at Atlanta's Cathedral of Christ the King with her husband Dave, is a Trump voter who has rarely criticized him. The AI image crossed her line. "I didn't like it, and it's one of the first things that he's ever done that I was just strongly opposed to," she said.
Yet Stroth's support for Trump's military actions remained intact. She suggested the pope "doesn't really understand the full political landscape" and sees things "through a certain lens." Her husband Dave was gentler in his critique, saying that while Trump may have been fair to question a world leader, "my pope I'll protect, so that was probably unkind."
James Echols, who attended mass at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Norcross, rejected Trump's false claims that the pope wanted Iran to have nuclear weapons. "The president just says stuff that people haven't said," Echols said. His wife Maribic, who voted for Trump, has begun to reconsider. "I've changed, because this is not what I was expecting when I was voting for him," she said, citing both the war and arrests she views as unjust.
About 55 percent of American Catholics voted for Trump in 2024, but that coalition is fracturing. High gas prices, military operations, and mounting scandals are taking their toll on papal support.
Dicarlo articulated the calculation many Catholics make: "We're Catholic first. The Republican party does not perfectly align with my views." He said conservatives vote Republican not out of devotion to Trump but because the alternative appears worse on issues affecting culture and family life. "It has nothing to do with an allegiance to Trump," he said. "It was that there's at least some good there that I think I can vote for and there's less harm than the other."
Author James Rodriguez: "Trump's crude assault on the pope exposes how shallow his understanding of American Catholicism really is, and it's costing him ground among voters who believe faith comes first."
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