A 'Crusade' Against the Pope

The US and Israeli attack on Iran is yielding interesting consequences for contemporary politics and theology, as it has caused tension between Pope Leo XIV, the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics, and US President Trump. The Pope, who is himself American, has—like his predecessor Pope Francis—openly reacted to global developments and issued calls for peace. However, Trump’s targeting of the Pope to an extent unseen in our era has caused a rift with his supporters. As the division within the MAGA movement continues, the fact that some of the President’s supporters in the media have equated the Pope with “Islamist terrorists” is creating fractures in the West from both political and theological perspectives.

The Beginning of the Vatican-Washington Crisis

The crisis between the Pope, who is also a head of state, and Washington erupted during the operations against Iran. Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost, namely Pope Leo XIV, criticized warmongering rhetoric without naming names directly and “God does not approve of any war” thereby implicitly targeting the attacks. The date of the message he also shared on Twitter (X) was April 10.

In fact, both the former Pope Francis and Leo XIV have long been criticizing Israel’s attacks in Palestine and Lebanon, but they were the target of criticism for not expressing this openly. Nevertheless, through Cardinal Pizzaballa, whom Francis appointed to Jerusalem in 2020, he was offering support to those suffering from all religions in the “Holy Land.” Similarly, Pope Leo XIV, who chose Turkey for his first trip after being elected Pope, subsequently went to Lebanon and called for peace and security among peoples of different origins and religions in the region. After Francis, who did not hesitate to express his views on many international issues from global warming to the Ukraine War, the first crisis Leo experienced politically was the Iran-Israel-US war.

From Charlemagne to Trump: The Struggle with the Papacy

The authority of the Pope, the successor to the church founded by Paul, one of the apostles of Jesus, has been a subject of debate since the early days when Christianity became institutionalized. It was the philosopher and theologian Augustine of Hippo who, as early as the fourth century, laid the theoretical and theological foundation for the separation of religious and worldly affairs. However, while Augustine separated the two powers, for Christians, it was only He wrote that the state of Godwas important and binding, emphasizing that religious authority was therefore unchallengeable. In the ensuing period, Pope Leo I (440-461) challenged the supremacy of the Roman Empire for the first time, laying the foundations of Papal authority. Interestingly, Leo I, who shares his name with the Pope currently at odds with the US, reportedly confronted the Hun ruler Attila and 'saved' the city of Rome from invasion by pleading for mercy.

While the Papacy consolidated its power in Italy and other Catholic lands, it was Charlemagne who laid the foundations for secularization in the Christian world in the ninth century. Rather than a king who obeyed the Pope, Charlemagne acted 'like a prophet' (Touchard, History of Political Thought, p. 150) and called the state he established the 'Christian Empire'.

The power of the popes, who designed and led the Crusades until roughly the fifteenth century, dissolved over the centuries; however, as the leader of the 'Papal State,' they continued to hold the power of heaven and earth. Napoleon Bonaparte, the founder of the modern age, delivered a belated, devastating blow to the Vatican by forcing the Pope to come to him to be crowned, rather than traveling to Rome himself. With the unification of Italy in the second half of the nineteenth century, the Vatican lost its 'statehood' status for fifty-eight years, yet it remained at the center of theological, political, philosophical, and conspiracy debates. It maintained its symbolic weight in world politics through its moderate relations with the Nazis during World War II and its stance against the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War.

Catholicism in Today's War of Religions

US Evangelicals, who openly support Israel and oppose Catholicism, while backing various Republican ideologies ranging from neocons to MAGA, hold a significant place among the Pope's critics. Zionist Evangelicalism, which has been propagating war against Iran for decades, possesses a kind of 'accelerationist' ideology that aims to hasten the coming of the Messiah. Thus, Evangelicals, who believe this will bring an era of peace and tranquility and who are powerful in US politics and media, are striving to present the struggle between Israel and Iran as a kind of war of religions.

Of course, at this point, the discourse is a 'Judeo-Christian struggle against Islam' or that a war is being waged directly between 'Islam vs. Christianity that supports Judaism.' For this reason, the Pope's support for Iran and Lebanon in a way that undermines this grand narrative is causing tremors both in U.S. domestic politics and in international relations.

The U.S. President's posts and remarks regarding the Pope are drawing significant backlash from voters. U.S. Vice President J. D. Vance, who writes in his new memoir to be published on June 16 that he became a Catholic in 2019, is also among those directly targeting the Pope. Vance, who stated that the Pope should be 'more meticulous on theological matters,' is expected to be a candidate in the 2028 presidential election. However, a segment of voters who feel the Pope is being disrespected could lead to major political consequences, especially in Catholic-majority states like Pennsylvania, which determine the fate of elections. Indeed, according to a survey published by Reuters/Ipsos last week, 60% of Americans view Pope Leo favorably, while this rate remains at 36% for Trump.

To American politicians who tell the Pope that he 'should concern himself with moral issues rather than political discourse,' the American-born Pope responds by emphasizing that morality and politics are inseparable fields.