President’s Papal Prank Precedes Pious Périodiste’s Pontification

MRC Latino | May 5, 2025
Font Size

 

JOHN DICKERSON: Donald Trump does not suffer from Catholic guilt. An AI-generated image appeared on his personal and White House account showing him dressed as the pope. But he demonstrated no sign of shame or self-reproach or anxiety. He called it a joke. Catholic leaders didn’t much laugh, said Bishop Thomas Papraki of Illinois. President Trump mocks God, the Catholic Church, and the papacy. For those applying to be pope or imagining themselves as one, the goal of the job is imitato Christi: the imitation of Christ. Not the clothes but the calling. Not image, but substance. His example of obedience calls believers to rise to something higher. The Catholic church’s liturgy Sunday, prepared long in advance, offered commentary on the tension between sacred and secular authority. Around the world churches read a line from the Book of Acts: we must obey God rather than man. The calling: humility, service, fidelity to something greater than self isn’t confined to the church or its faithful. It applies to anyone granted authority, whether by divine will or the will of the voters. When the moment came for the president to uphold his duties to the Constitution, the man who enjoyed imagining himself in the garments of commitment declined to practice commitment. Asked whether he would abide by a unanimous Supreme Court ruling affirming due process for all persons, written in the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution which he’d sworn an oath to, he said “I don't know, I'm not a lawyer.” Catholics who pick and choose which teachings to follow are called cafeteria Catholics. This is a cafeteria Constitution. The reverence performed, but the obligations are left behind in the line. That’s tonight's CBS Evening News Plus. Thank you for joining us. I’m John Dickerson. Good night.