Fort Worth bishop criticizes Trump over Pope Leo comments, Jesus-like image
Bishop Michael Olson of the Fort Worth Catholic Diocese criticized President Donald Trump for his attack on Pope Leo XIV’s stance against the war in Iran and for his AI-generated social media post that depicts Trump as Jesus Christ.
In a Truth Social post Sunday night, the president said the pontiff was “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
“Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician,” Trump wrote.
In a statement Monday night Olson called Trump’s comments “disrespectful and disappointing.”
“In his post, the President seemed to misunderstand and to mischaracterize the Holy Father’s message of calling for a swift end to war as a partisan attack upon the President’s policies and not as the articulation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace,” Olson wrote.
Olson called on all Catholics and Americans to pray for the Holy Father, President Trump and for an end to all war and terrorism.
Olson went on to say that the Holy Father, like his predecessors, consistently condemns acts of terrorism, including those sanctioned by Iran and its surrogates in the Middle East.
“The President owes the Holy Father and Catholics an apology,” Olson wrote.
Pope Leo said he does not fear the Trump Administration and will continue to speak out against the war.
Olson was also highly critical of Trump for his decision over the weekend to post an AI image of himself in the role of Christ, calling it “highly insulting and blasphemous.”
Even though the image was taken down hours later, Olson said Trump should hold his staff accountable for creating the image for such a disrespectful action.
“While the President claims that he mistakenly thought that the image portrayed was him as a doctor and not as Christ and that he did not intend the blasphemy, the fact remains that a member of his staff did prepare the image of him in the place of Christ and the President should be clear as to how he will hold his staff accountable for such a disrespectful action,” Olson wrote.
According to the New York Times, Pope Leo enjoys broader support among conservative Catholics throughout the United States.
Other bishops and cardinals condemned Trump for his statements against the Pope.
Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona–Rochester, who serves on Trump’s Liberty Commission, called on the president to apologize to Pope Leo.
Mr. Trump’s comments were “entirely inappropriate and disrespectful,” Barron wrote on social media.
An online search indicated that pastors from most North Texas megachurches did not issue statements condemning Trump’s attacks on the Pope or on his AI generated social media post.
However, Landon Schott, senior pastor of Mercy Culture Church in Fort Worth posted on his Facebook page that while Trump’s post was “a cringe moment,” Christians and others never acknowledge Trumps wins and accomplishments.
“I will be honest with you. That post was a cringe moment. No person should be compared in any way to Jesus. ONLY JESUS IS LORD AND KING. FULL STOP. Even if it was meant to show the president as a doctor, it appeared to reflect him like Jesus, and anytime anyone attributes to man what belongs to God alone, that is blasphemy. But the response from Christians has been just as cringe,” Schott wrote.
“The selective outrage is laughable and proves many are puppets of the media,” Schott said in his post.
Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton also were silent concerning Trump’s social media post.
This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 1:37 PM.