Trump's rift with the Pope is playing out in public - it's costing him valuable support

Trump's rift with the Pope is playing out in public - it's costing him valuable support10 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleAleem MaqboolReligious affairs correspondent‘I pray they come together’ - Americans react to Trump’s feud with Pope LeoIt is not unusual for President Trump to face criticism from Catholic leaders.His hardline immigration policies, promised in his campaign and cheered on by supporters, have prompted condemnation from church leaders.For months it has put the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the US at odds with more right-leaning rank-and-file Catholics.But the broad backlash in the last 48 hours, over Trump's attack on Pope Leo and his sharing of an AI image of himself as a Christ-like figure, is very different.What is striking is where some of this criticism is coming from - loyal, conservative Catholic allies.They are unhappy, not just because of Trump's public friction with Pope Leo, but at a much deeper level over the Iran war.The uproar over Trump's lengthy social media attack on the first American pope, as too liberal and too "weak on crime", together with the AI image, have crystallised a shift in opinion among many Catholic conservatives since the war began six weeks ago."I pray that all of this will clarify for people that we don't look to a national leader, we don't look to those who have the most money or the most weapons. We look to Christ," says Bishop Joseph Strickland.These words come from a man who, only last year, participated in a prayer event to "consecrate" the president's Mar-a-Lago home.In 2024, Strickland delivered the keynote speech at CPAC where Donald Trump was the guest of honor. In 2020, he addressed a march of Trump supporters calling to overturn the election results.Getty ImagesBishop Strickland at the March for Life in Washington in 2024He has been a staunch supporter of Donald Trump through thick and thin. Indeed, his overt politi...