Bhopinder Singh | Amid Tussle With America’s First Pope, Trump Lays Claim To Divinity!

Christianity is the largest religion in the world, and within that, Roman Catholics are the largest single denomination, at over 1.4 billion globally. An estimated 23 per cent of the population of the United States is Catholic (70-75 million). Spiritually, the Pope is the highest authority for Catholics who is believed to be the direct successor of Saint Peter, the first leader of the Church appointed by Jesus Christ. The Pope is revered as the supreme earthly authority on all matters of faith and morals under specific conditions (such as papal infallibility).

Naturally, this leads the Pope to engage on a multitude of issues, including political, though from a strictly moral and religious perspective, and not from a partisan angularity. This lens of Catholic morality can often pitch the papal perspective on either side of the political fence, depending on the issue itself -- such as opposition to abortion aligns with the right-wing persuasions, whereas concerns on the environment and climate issues aligns it to the left-wing persuasions. Therefore, it is very usual for the Pope on comment on global issues of moral concern like poverty, migration, refugees, social inequities, human rights, or even war and peace. But the overarching rationale for the Pope to comment on such issues has always been rooted in Catholic spirituality and not on electoral considerations.

Practising politicians across the world realise the value of religious identity to “connect” and beseech votes in the name of religion. Catholicism is no different, and from Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, Andrzej Duda in Poland, Lula da Silva in Brazil, to even John F. Kennedy and Joe Biden (the only two Catholic US Presidents) have signalled Catholic values to appeal to the electorate. However, the Catholic Church has not endorsed any candidate or party, centrally or institutionally.

Like many other Americans, US President’s Donald Trump is also a WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant), who was baptized and raised in the Presbyterian Church. Politically astute, President Trump has defined his identity as a “non-denominational” Christian and therefore seeks to cut across the intra-faith divide. Mr Trump has framed his political positions in such a way that it appeals to conservative Catholic values when it comes to gender policy, religious institution rights, court appointment of conservative judges, and, most sharply, on abortion. His hard positions ensured that he even pipped a Catholic Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential elections, with 52 per cent vote share amongst overall Catholic votes, with 55-60 per cent of White Catholics preferring Mr Trump. Though Mr Trump finally lost the 2020 elections, his successful campaign in 2024 saw the overall Catholic preference increase to 55 per cent, with White Catholics soaring even higher to 60-63 per cent.

When Pope Leo XIV (born, Robert Francis Prevost) became the first American pontiff to be elected by the College of the Cardinals in 2025, President Trump declared it was “such an honour” and a “great honour for the United States”. However, the amoral and rather fickle Mr Trump has had a consistent history of abrupt breakups with former friends and allies, especially if they take a principled position that is contrary to that of Mr Trump. From allies like Nato (or even India sometimes), to former aides like Mike Pence, John Bolton, Rex Tillerson, James Mattis, etc, anyone can be thrown “under the bus” if they disagree with Mr Trump.

The latest to join the bandwagon is Pope Leo XIV, who had earlier commented that there was a “delusion of omnipotence” fuelling the US-Israel war with Iran. This elicited a stinging reaction direct from Mr Trump, who insisted that he was “not a fan of Pope Leo”, and that he thought that the Pontiff was “not doing a good job”. Mr Trump’s petty and thin-skinned railing on social media continued with “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy”. It was incredulously followed by a come-back picture of himself as a Jesus-like figure curing a man! Basically, Mr Trump has not just rubbished the Pope, but also took on himself the portents and imagery of even-higher divinity and authority!

Now the proverbial chickens are coming home to roost, as many die-hard supporters of Mr Trump’s theatrics, bravado, and hate-mongering wake up to the reality that in Mr Trump’s world of “othering”, no one is spared, not even the presumptive “own”. It is a wake-up call for the likes of Italy’s far-right Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who had been a staunch supporter of Trump-style politics, till now. Her deputy prime minister has weighed-in with: “If anyone is working hard on the issue of peace and conflict resolution, it’s Pope Leo. Attacking the Pope, a symbol of peace and a spiritual guide for billions of Catholics, doesn’t seem like a useful or intelligent thing to do.”

But as the currency of manufactured hate is so powerful, the reality that no one is spared the ambition of a unhinged authoritarian like Mr Trump is often forgotten, till the fire reaches the doorsteps of those cheering the inferno. Many former aides, friends, and allies of Mr Trump are now struggling to explain the deterioration in their relations with the President. Within America, the writing is on the wall as Mr Trump suffers the highest disapproval ratings and the trend is worsening with the unending Iran war. Pope Leo has contextualised the fake religiosity of politicians like Donald Trump by referencing an Old Testament passage from Isaiah: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen -- your hands are full of blood”. Hence, religion outlives the politics of convenience.

The writer is a retired lieutenant-general and a former lieutenant-governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry