We're learning as much about Catholicism and Jesus on Tuesday as we're learning about what Rep. Ruben Gallego is learning about the "secret double life" of his buddy, Eric Swalwell. Tucker Carlson says that "the people in charge" don't want you to know that Muslims love Jesus. Our only thought is that he noted that the president of Iran took offense at a meme depicting President Donald Trump as Jesus, so maybe we'll stop bombing Iran if the Muslims there love Jesus so much. Then there was Joy Behar, who thought it was narcissistic for Jesus to call Himself the Messiah.
Now, James V. Grimaldi, former executive editor of The National Catholic Reporter, has written an opinion piece in which he says Trump needs to get over his obsession with the pope, diagnosing him with "pope derangement syndrome."
In @nytopinion
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 14, 2026
President Trump’s misplaced obsession with Pope Leo XIV reveals “a misunderstanding of his role as the spiritual leader of more than a billion Catholics worldwide — call it pope derangement syndrome,” writes James V. Grimaldi. https://t.co/NtuikVA02f
Grimaldi writes:
Last year, Pope Leo XIV questioned whether the “inhuman treatment of immigrants” is consistent with being pro-life. This year, on Easter, he said, “Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace!” On Friday, he posted a message that anyone who is a disciple of Jesus Christ “is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”
By Sunday, President Trump apparently had heard enough. He unleashed a lengthy post accusing the pope of being “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Mr. Trump also posted a picture of himself as a Christ-like figure, though that was taken down after it generated a backlash….
…
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone that Leo, like Pope Francis before him, would denounce the harsh treatment of immigrants. It is an outlook rooted in Matthew 25:35. In November, Leo made his position on this issue clear when he said, “I think every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” but at the same time, “we have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have.”
When it comes to the war with Iran, the pope would not have been doing his job if he didn’t remind Catholics and the rest of the world of the church’s teaching on armed conflicts. As Cardinal Robert McElroy, of the Washington archdiocese, has explained, this conflict fails the church’s theory of just war: When the United States chose to strike Iran six weeks ago, our country wasn’t responding to “an existing or imminent and objectively verifiable attack by Iran.” The just war theory traces to Augustine of Hippo, a saint close to Pope Leo’s heart.
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As we reported on Monday, former ABC political director Mark Halperin said that by "attacking" the pope, Trump was "dead — dead, I tell you — politically." "I mean, who could attack a popular Pope and get away with it?" Halperin asked.
If a tweet constituted an obsession, what would you call writing a whole article AND tweeting it?
— Jack T. (@BriefAside) April 14, 2026
Trump said something about the pope once and the pope talks about him all the time, but it is Trump, who is obsessed. 😂 Can you guys be more ridiculous?
— Csenge K. (@KantorKutyus) April 14, 2026
The problem is that the Pope seems to be concerned solely with what Trump does while ignoring everything else. And that is after meeting with Obama's henchman.
— Slow (@SlowLaneLodge) April 14, 2026
Yes, Pope Leo held a private meeting with David Axelrod.
The Times' current editors creatively omit the unspoken schism Francis created with Catholic conservative capitalists.
— Todd Taylor 🇺🇸 (@ketchphrase) April 14, 2026
This editor isn't Catholic, but his wife and children are, and he can say a lot of Catholics were hoping for a course-correction after Pope Francis. Pope Leo doesn't seem to be it.
Your use of the word obsession is hilarious. Look in a mirror.
— Tom🇺🇸🏴 (@TomSMN39) April 14, 2026
Calling it ‘pope derangement syndrome’ is just a lazy way to shut down criticism.
— ShogunX (@WisdomItod81685) April 14, 2026
Trump is allowed to question anyone, including the Pope.
Trump isn’t attacking faith , he’s challenging opinions. Big difference.
Love how Trump has gotten liberals to defend the Vatican. Trolled.
— Hank Wright (@Hank_Wright17) April 14, 2026
It's not pope derangement when the pope meets with David Axlerod and crew and then he and his minions start criticizing Trump and border politicies and deportation and Iran. It's justified to question it and motives.
— C T Cowboy (@cowboy_t68213) April 14, 2026
No, the Pope decided to get involved in US politics right after his private meeting with Democrat Strategist David Axelrod who is Jewish.
— Jim Collins (@JimCollinsJr) April 14, 2026
The President is appropriately criticizing the Pope for becoming a democrat party activist.
The Pope is a joke. He is an inside job by the woke global agenda. He does not condemn the millions of Christian’s in Nigeria and South Africa being slaughtered. Never a word when Iran murdered 30k+ citizens. Opens a prayer room for Muslims in the Vatican. He fights for no one.
— Dino Danucci (@Dinodancer17244) April 14, 2026
Halperin assured us that Pope Leo is popular. Today, he's in Algiers calling the third-largest mosque a "space proper to God."
Communion between Christians and Muslims takes shape under the mantle of Our Lady of Africa. Here, in #Algeria, the maternal love of Lalla Meryem gathers everyone as children, within our rich diversity, in our shared aspiration for dignity, love, justice, and peace. In a world…
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) April 13, 2026
The post continues:
… where division and wars sow pain and death, living in unity and peace is a compelling sign. #ApostolicJourney
We would call saying Pope Leo is "too liberal" an obsession or Pope Derangement Syndrome. Trump has a war to win and millions of illegal immigrants to deport.
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