Catholic Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota has called on President Donald Trump to apologize for his remarks about Pope Leo XIV.
The POTUS posted an unhinged screed aimed at the Pope on Sunday, April 12, and told him to “get his act together”, before posting an AI-generated image portraying himself as Jesus.
Interestingly, Bishop Barron has shown strong MAGA sensibilities since Trump returned to power in 2025, by praising Trump’s State of the Union speech and attending a White House event earlier in April.
However, he did share his thoughts after the President took a jab at the Pope on Sunday.
The statements made by President Trump on Truth Social regarding the Pope were entirely inappropriate and disrespectful. They don’t contribute at all to a constructive conversation. It is the Pope’s prerogative to articulate Catholic doctrine and the principles that govern the…
— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) April 13, 2026
The Bishop wrote in an X post, “The statements made by President Trump on Truth Social regarding the Pope were entirely inappropriate and disrespectful.”
“They don’t contribute at all to a constructive conversation. It is the Pope’s prerogative to articulate Catholic doctrine and the principles that govern the moral life,” Bishop Barron added.
He also mentioned, “In regard to the concrete application of those principles, people of good will can and do disagree.”
Barron has appeared to drift to the right over the past year, while he was earlier regarded as a mainstream evangelist with his own PBS Catholicism series.
The Bishop has shown increased public support for the POTUS by attacking left-wing figures and echoing the administration’s claims of Somali fraud in Minnesota, according to Catholic outlet Letters from Leo.
Despite this, the Bishop has suggested that Catholic members of Trump’s inner circle should intervene to patch up the damage the President has caused.
Bishop Barron said, “I would warmly recommend that serious Catholics within the Trump administration—Secretary Rubio, Vice President Vance, Ambassador Brian Burch, and others—might meet with Vatican officials so that a real dialogue can take place.”
“This is far preferable to the statements on social media,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Bishop also seemed to shower a bit of praise for Trump, saying, “I am very grateful for the many ways that the Trump administration has reached out to Catholics and other people of faith.”
“It has been a high honor to serve on the Religious Liberty Commission. No President in my lifetime has shown a greater dedication to defending our first liberty. All that said, I think the President owes the Pope an apology,” he mentioned.
President Trump goes off at Pope Leo.
“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. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!” pic.twitter.com/q2egqvanwl
— Resist the Mainstream (@ResisttheMS) April 13, 2026
President Trump formed the Religious Liberty Commission by executive order in May 2025. It is designed to “secure domestic religious liberty” and comprises several religious leaders, including Barron.
The POTUS had attacked the Pope in a Truth Social Post, as he called him “Weak on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
Trump wrote in his post, “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. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!”
Following this, he posted an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ healing a man, with warplanes and bald eagles in the background.
Meanwhile, the Pope told reporters on Monday, April 13, “I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do.”
