Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
About
Christology
Israel/Palestine
Publications
KermitZarley.com
Archives
Categories
- Angels
- Blog Description
- Book Reviews
- Christian Living
  - Unconditional Love?
- Christianity
- Christology
  - Deity of Christ?
  - Holy Spirit
  - Incarnation?
  - My Change
  - Trinity?
- Church History
- Current Events
- War on Terrorism
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
- Eschatology
- Ezekiel 38-39
- Last Empire
- Primitive Weapons
- Film Reviews
- God
- Golf
  - Billy Graham
  - Karsten Solheim
  - Lee Trevino
  - Major Championship Winners
  - Masters
  - Purpose
  - Ryder Cup
- Gospel Harmonization
- Interview
- Islam
- Jesus
- Literary Announcements
- Monotheism
- My Books
  - The Restitution of Jesus Christ
- Old Testament
- Politics
- Society of Biblical Literature
- The Bible
- Trinitarianism
- Uncategorized
FREE NEWSLETTER

Home
Progressive Christian
Religion News
Trump as Pope? Isn’t that Being Sacrilegious?

Trump as Pope? Isn’t that Being Sacrilegious?

Last updated on: May 4, 2025 at 10:39 am by Kermit Zarley

0 Comments

Trump as Pope? Isn’t that Being Sacrilegious? 2025-05-04T10:39:07-07:00 Kermit Zarley

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

CREDIT: On X by White House

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania attended the funeral of Pope Francis last week at the Vatican. Many Catholic Church cardinals from around the world were there as well. They were mourning the pope’s death, honoring his legacy, and discussing who will replace him. Next Wednesday, 130 cardinals will officially begin deliberations to choose Francis’s successor.

On Tuesday, President Trump said to reporters gathered outside the White House, “I’d like to be the pope.” Was he being real or joking? Donald Trump says many things like that, leaving listeners to wonder if he means it or not. Thus, he often is not a clear communicator. I call that “speaking with forked tongue.”

Trump Sometimes Says of His Rhetoric, “I Was Only Joking”

But Trump then added to that brief statement, “That would be my #1 choice.” No reports I read said he then laughed or indicated anything by his expressions that he was joking. That also is a Trump trait—making outrageous statements that first appear to most listeners as a joke without him indicating as much. He has done regarding making Canada the 51st U.S. state and taking Greenland and the Panama Canal as well, and when he has said these things many people thought he was joking, but he afterwards said he meant it.

Yet another Trump trait is that when he receives extreme pushback from such outrageous statements during the immediate hours or days afterwards, he then says he was “only joking.” I’ve blogged about this before and what the Bible says about it, that it is like being a “maniac” (e.g., “The Bible Compares Donald Trump to a Maniac“).

Trump Touts AI-Generated Photo of Him as Pope

To make matters worse, the next day Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself looking real serious, dressed as the Catholic pope, and seated. Couldn’t that be considered sacrilegious? And yesterday, the White House posted it on its social media platform as well.

Trump then caught a lot of flack on the internet about this atrocious behavior from a guy who not only is not a Catholic, but has never been religious. In fact, he’s been just the opposite. Trump then said it was merely a “joke.” Yeah, sure. About 65% of the Catholic vote in the last presidential election voted for Trump. This so-called joke about being pope may cause Republicans to lose a few votes in the mid-term elections next year.

PUSHBACK!

Here were some comments on the internet about Trump posting that image of him as pope: “Just when you think he’s hit a new low;” “I’m not Catholic, but there are no words for how thoughtless and inappropriate this is;” “why is his behavior always dismissed as ‘jokingly,’ he’s insane;” “deeply offensive on every level;” “what an EMBARRASSMENT;” “such bad taste, so offensive to Catholics, and no respect for the dead;” “replace the ‘p’ with a ‘d’ and he’s elected.”

The Catholic Church was upset by this Trump rhetoric and image as well. The New York State Conference of bishops said of this matter on X, “There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr President. We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St Peter. Do not mock us.”

I think Donald Trump is just about a maniac. Read my book, Bible Predicts Trump Fall. What do you think?

Uncategorized

Donald Trump

Pope Francis

Previous Post

April 28, 2025

Canada Votes No to Trump Threatening It to Be 51st US State

Next Post

May 12, 2025 New Pope Leo XIV Echoes Jesus in Saying, "Peace Be With You"

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Glen, you seem to be advocating a preterist viewpoint, with which I disagree." I'm a ..."

Kermit Zarley

Family Estrangement Versus Honoring Father and ..."

"THESIS is a SCRIPTURE QUOTE.“Remember the predictions foretold by the holy prophets and by the ..."

glen smith

Family Estrangement Versus Honoring Father and ..."

"How are they going to answer it. They don't have unlimited financial resources. They're trying ..."

Kermit Zarley

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Getting Much Worse

"...but isn't that an important question to answer?"

Harold Porter

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Getting Much Worse

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Angels Billy Graham Blog Description Book Reviews Christian Living Christianity Christology Church History Current Events Deity of Christ? Disarmament Eschatology Evangelicalism Ezekiel 38-39 Film Reviews God Golf Gospel Harmonization Health History Holy Spirit Incarnation? Interview Islam Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Jesus Last Empire Literary Announcements Major Championship Winners Masters Monotheism My Books New Testament Old Testament Politics Primitive Weapons Ryder Cup Science Society of Biblical Literature The Bible The Restitution of Jesus Christ Trinitarianism Trinity? Uncategorized Unconditional Love? War on Terrorism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the last book in the New Testament before Revelation?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Philemon 1 John Jude 3 John

Books by This Author Books by Kermit Zarley Blog

See All Titles »