Catholic figures in Chicago 7speak out on White House comments against Pope as Trump, Vance backpedal

Standing inside St. Sabina Church on Sunday, the Rev. Michael Pfleger called on President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to “look inside their souls" as he spoke out on the comments they've made gainst Pope Leo XIV.

The leader of the Auburn Gresham church has said he believes Trump is “waking up a sleeping giant" — a remark he doubled down on Sunday as he said Trump's remarks declared war on all of the country's faithful.

“The truth is that Mr. Trump’s attack is not just on the pope and not just on Catholics but on Christians and Jews and Muslims across the country," Pfleger said at a news conference after Sunday Mass. "This is an attack on people of faith.”

A week ago, Trump made a lengthy social media post criticizing Pope Leo as “catering to the Radical Left” as well as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”

“I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States,” Trump wrote in the post.

The president later posted an AI-generated image portraying himself as Jesus healing a sick man, which was removed amid backlash. The president later backpedaled, claiming he thought it portrayed him as a doctor.

Vance, who's Catholic, initially backed Trump, saying, “It would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on in the Catholic church and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy.” He later softened his tone, saying the pope was “inviting conversation.”

Pope Leo last week called for a “decisive change of course” that leads away from conflict and the exploitation of the land for military or economic gain. He has previously said he's "not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel" and would "continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems.”

“The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters,” Leo said as he preached Thursday in Cameroon, a stop on his 11-day trip through Africa.

It comes as Trump has said he may pivot his focus to Cuba after winding down the war he started in Iran; the president's comments come after the U.S. blockade of Cuba has caused prolonged blackouts and fuel shortages. U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson was part of a congressional delegation to Cuba as it struggled under the blockade, which the congressman called "an act of war" at the Sunday news conference at St. Sabina.

Jackson described seeing premature babies being born in Cuba without the electricity to power incubators to help them survive. He criticized those Democrats who have voted against measures to reign in Trump both in Iran and Cuba, saying that action goes against the will of the voters who put them in office.

Both he and Pfleger called on Democrats to "stop being weak" before it causes them to lose voters in the November midterm election.

"They are misrepresenting their districts," Jackson said.

Arthur Maiorella/For the Sun-Times

While some politicians have avoided directly addressing the feud between Trump and the pope — Gov. JB Pritzker posted a photo from he and the pontiff’s meeting last year — U.S. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) pointed to the fight as reason for Congress to vote on a resolution to wrangle in Trump’s war powers. That resolution later failed 213-214 in the U.S. House. U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine was the only Democrat to vote against it.

“Not believing literal war with Iran is enough, he’s now gone to proverbial war with the Vatican,” Duckworth said. “Choosing to pick fights with the pope of all people rather than try to engage in any semblance of real diplomacy to end the conflict in the Middle East.”

The criticism hasn’t been limited to the Christian community either. Trump’s posts earlier this month threatening a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran failed to reach a deal — which was struck later that evening — also mockingly praised Allah. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has decried Trump's feud with the pope and use of religious imagery.

Pfleger also aimed his ire at other Christians, particularly pastors who continue to support Trump and his actions as Americans struggle.

“The Christian right are misusing the bible and trying to hijack Jesus by trying to justify evil,” Pfleger said. “People are living in the streets, programs have been cut ... This is not the Bible, this is wickedness.”

Contributing: AP