10
Loading video...
By Sam Stevenson
Associate News Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Americans, including Catholics, are more comfortable with Pope Leo XIV criticizing the U.S. president's policies than with President Donald Trump publicly attacking the pontiff, a new national survey shared exclusively with Newsweek has found.
The polling, fielded April 21-23 by Verasight, found that 48 percent of Catholics believed it was appropriate for the pope to criticize the president's policies, while 21 percent said it was appropriate for Trump to criticize Leo. The results come as a fast‑moving White House-Vatican dispute spills into U.S. politics and gains the attention of the Catholic electorate.
That flare‑up has been building through a series of unusually public exchanges between Trump and the first American pope, fueled by disagreements over war and diplomacy and sharpened by Leo's criticism of U.S. immigration enforcement.
Read More on Politics
The rupture accelerated after the pope urged restraint and expressed "deep concern" as the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran escalated. There was then heightened attention on Leo's condemnation of mass deportations and a sharp social‑media broadside from Trump, who criticized the pope as being "weak on crime, and terrible for foreign policy."
...
Separate reporting has also described tensions behind the scenes, including pushback from the Pentagon and the White House over accounts of a tense meeting involving the Vatican's ambassador in Washington, D.C.
Catholic voters—often decisive in battleground states—look comfortable with papal moral commentary on policy, but much less tolerant of presidential attacks on religious leaders.
"This appears to be driven by a broader expectation that political leaders should avoid publicly attacking religious figures," Ben Leff, the CEO and co‑founder of Verasight, told Newsweek. "Even among non‑Catholics, nearly 70 percent say it's inappropriate for the president to criticize the pope."
Why It Matters
The United States has long navigated an implicit boundary between political authority and religious leadership, especially where the Catholic Church is concerned. That boundary is now being tested more directly than at any point in recent history, not least because Leo is the first American‑born pope.
Catholics represent about a quarter of the U.S. electorate and are disproportionately influential in swing states. How they interpret this clash—as symbolic or substantive—has implications for the political landscape heading into November's midterms.
Catholics Draw Clear Line Around Respect and Criticism
Verasight's survey, conducted among 2,000 U.S. adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points, shows almost an even national split on whether it is appropriate for the pope to publicly criticize a U.S. president's policies.
Overall, 50 percent said such criticism was appropriate, including 29 percent who called it very appropriate, while 39 percent said it was inappropriate.
Among Catholic respondents, the division was similarly close but leaned slightly toward acceptance.
Some 48 percent of Catholics said it was appropriate for Leo to criticize Trump's policies, compared with 45 percent who said it was inappropriate.
The remaining 7 percent of respondents were unsure. That balance suggests discomfort with overt political conflict but little panic about a pope speaking on public affairs.
A Sharper Reaction When Trump Criticizes the Pope
Opinions harden significantly when the direction of criticism is reversed.
When asked about Trump publicly criticizing Leo, 69 percent of Americans said it was inappropriate, including 52 percent who described it as very inappropriate. Only 21 percent said it was appropriate.
Catholic respondents reacted even more strongly, with 71 percent saying it was inappropriate for the president to criticize the pope, compared with 21 percent who said it was appropriate.
That response, Leff said, reflects cultural norms rather than doctrinal loyalty.
He said it suggested that "this is less about doctrine and more about a widely held norm around respect for religious institutions."
Moral Authority Runs One Way
The asymmetry between reactions to papal criticism and presidential criticism is one of the survey's clearest findings.
Voters are far more tolerant of the pope weighing in on U.S. policy than of the president attacking the pope personally.
That imbalance, Leff said, appears driven more by politics than by reverence for Rome.
"The asymmetry might actually be driven by how Americans are currently feeling about the president," he said. "People are more comfortable with public criticism when it aligns with their own political views."
For Catholic voters, however, the backlash appears symbolic rather than transformative. Despite strong disapproval of presidential attacks on the pope, there is little indication that this translates into broader changes in political behavior.
"This looks more like a symbolic reaction than a behavior‑changing moment," Leff said. "It reinforces existing views more than it changes them."
Pope Leo's Standing With the Public
Public attitudes toward Leo help explain why presidential attacks on him draw such sharp resistance.
Nationally, almost half of Americans view the pope favorably. The Verasight survey found 48 percent held a favorable opinion of Leo, including 28 percent who described their view as very favorable and 20 percent who were somewhat favorable.
By contrast, 14 percent held an unfavorable view, while 22 percent were neutral and 15 percent said they were not familiar enough to offer an opinion.
Among Catholics, Leo's standing is significantly stronger. Sixty percent held a favorable view, compared with 12 percent who viewed him unfavorably. Twenty‑one percent described their view as neutral, while 8 percent said they were unfamiliar.
That personal standing appears to amplify the political norms reflected elsewhere in the survey, particularly resistance to the president attacking a religious leader with broad moral credibility. But Leff cautioned that the pope's popularity did not translate into universal consensus.
"Americans' attitudes toward Pope Leo XIV are driven in large part by their views of the president," he said, adding, "That means any backlash is likely to be concentrated among those already predisposed to disagree, rather than broadly shifting public opinion."
White House Response
"There has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump, and his record proves it," White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Newsweek in an emailed statement.
She continued: "President Trump ended the weaponization of the federal government against Christians, proudly defended and expanded our religious rights, pardoned pro-life activists, stopped the chemical mutilation of our nation's children, and protected parents' rights.
"The president will never waver in his support for Catholic Americans and will continue delivering unprecedented victories."
Newsweek has also contacted the Vatican for comment via email.
Timeline of Trump's Dispute With the Pope
January 2026
Strains between Washington and the Vatican became public after Pope Leo XIV issued sharp criticism of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement and elements of U.S. foreign policy, signaling a more confrontational Vatican posture toward the White House.
February 28, 2026
Tensions escalated following U.S. military action against Iran. Leo responded with unusually direct moral warnings about restraint and escalation, remarks widely interpreted as aimed squarely at President Donald Trump's leadership.
March 2026
As Vatican criticism intensified, Trump allies pushed back, portraying the pope's interventions as political overreach and arguing that Leo was crossing from spiritual leadership into partisan territory.
April 12, 2026
The conflict became an open feud when Trump launched direct personal attacks on Leo in a Truth Social post, questioning his authority to criticize U.S. policy and transforming a policy disagreement into a public confrontation.
What Happens Next
While the polling suggests little immediate shift in voting behavior, the data points to a clearer political risk heading into the midterm cycle.
Public disapproval of presidential attacks on the pope reinforces expectations around restraint and respect, particularly among Catholic voters concentrated in battleground states.
How long the White House-Vatican tensions persist, and whether they deepen beyond rhetorical clashes, will help determine whether this moment remains symbolic or becomes a more durable undercurrent in the 2026 political landscape.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines