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President Trump called Pope Leo weak last week. Then Vice President JD Vance, who is a Catholic himself, suggested the pope be more careful when talking about theology. And this has rallied many Catholics in the U.S. Jessica Pupovac reports.
JESSICA PUPOVAC: Pope pride tends to run pretty high here in Chicago. In the weeks following Pope Leo's selection as the first U.S.-born pontiff last year, the city was flooded with Da Pope T-shirts, pope cupcakes and even a Leo-themed Italian beef sandwich. The Chicago White Sox installed a mural commemorating his 2005 visit to the park.
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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Obviously, we know he is a big White Sox fan, so we are honoring him in a big way.
PUPOVAC: Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, talked about this pride on "60 Minutes" last week.
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BLASE CUPICH: We're proud. We're proud that we produced a pope - that Chicago can say that.
PUPOVAC: So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Chicago Catholics are mostly defending the pope after a week of harsh criticism from the Trump administration.
RANDY POWELL: The pope wasn't trying to intimidate anybody. And, you know, I think the pope was standing up, doing his job.
PUPOVAC: Randy Powell (ph) was heading into Holy Name Cathedral downtown Friday morning. He didn't want to say who he voted for, but he said his political allegiances come second to his faith.
POWELL: I am a Catholic first for 70 years. You know, Roman Catholic, no matter what.
PUPOVAC: Amy Fitzgerald (ph) echoed his sentiment.
AMY FITZGERALD: I'm a South Sider. You don't threaten a South Sider, and you definitely don't threaten the pope.
PUPOVAC: How does it make you feel to be Catholic today?
FITZGERALD: I'm proud to be Catholic because of Pope Leo. I'm proud that we have a pope who will say something and a pope that will stand his ground. That's what we need. We need more of that in America right now.
PUPOVAC: What do you say to the critics who are saying he's involving himself in U.S. politics and it's not appropriate?
FITZGERALD: Well, I think that is the way that the administration has twisted things. I think he has really shown us what a kind leader can look like. We don't have to lead with hate.
PUPOVAC: But there's a different response on the Northwest Side, in the only Chicago ward Trump won in 2024.
MIKE BOVINE: The last few popes have always been a little, you know, controversial.
PUPOVAC: Mike Bovine (ph) is a devout Catholic and a Trump supporter.
BOVINE: I feel he's doing what he's supposed to do, and the pope's doing what he's supposed to do, you know? So I think it's not as big of a deal as everybody's making it out to be, you know?
PUPOVAC: Bovine points out that the majority of Catholics across the country voted the way he did in the last election. Still, Trump's attack on the pope could alienate a religious group considered an important swing vote.
STEVE MILLIES: This is the second fight he shouldn't have picked in the last 50 days, the first being the war in Iran. And neither of them has turned out well for him.
PUPOVAC: Steve Millies teaches public theology at Pope Leo's alma mater, the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
MILLIES: Pope Leo has gotten a wonderful gift in some ways from Donald Trump. Trump has given Pope Leo a very easy way to remind the world of a church that is on the side of peace and justice everywhere.
PUPOVAC: And that's something, Millies says, the church has struggled to do in recent times. So in that way, this very public moment is a true opportunity.
For NPR News, I'm Jessica Pupovac in Chicago. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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