New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan disapproved of President Trump’s Truth Social post containing an AI image of himself as a pontiff. It was posted not two weeks after the death of Pope Francis and just days before cardinals gather at the Vatican to elect a new Catholic leader.
When asked by reporters about his thoughts on the late Friday post, Dolan replied that he hoped Trump “didn’t have anything to do with that.”
“Well, you know, it wasn’t good,” the cardinal added when asked whether he was offended by the post.
Dolan’s is part of Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission and has been an ally of the president. In December, Dolan said that the president “takes his Christian faith seriously.”
Trump even seemingly joked about Dolan being his pick for the next pope, according to USA Today.
However, Dolan is not alone in his criticism of the image showing Trump in full papal regalia. Bishop Thomas Paprock, of Springfield, Ill., said the president should apologize.
“This is deeply offensive to Catholics especially during this sacred time that we are still mourning the death of Pope Francis and praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit for the election of our new Pope,” he wrote in a statement on X.
The New York State Catholic Conference also criticized the post, saying there is “nothing clever or funny” about the image.
“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,” the conference wrote on X. “Do not mock us.”
Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, firmly stood by the president, defending the post as a joke.
“As a general rule, I’m fine with people telling jokes and not fine with people starting stupid wars that kill thousands of my countrymen,” Vance wrote on X in response to a scathing post from Bill Kristol, who served as chief of staff to the vice president in the George H.W. Bush administration.