{"id":614404,"date":"2026-04-19T12:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T12:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/614404\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T12:17:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T12:17:13","slug":"pope-leos-target-is-bigger-than-trump-hes-rebuking-the-maga-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/614404\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo\u2019s target is bigger than Trump. He\u2019s rebuking the \u2018MAGA Jesus\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n If you think the clash<\/a> between Pope Leo XIV and President Donald Trump is just a war of words that will pass when the news cycle moves on, you are most likely mistaken.\n <\/p>\n

\n Their public spat is part of a larger battle that\u2019s been raging behind the scenes for years \u2014 one that may accelerate if the war with Iran is prolonged.\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s also a conflict between two competing brands of Christianity, led by two distinctive versions of Christ: the historical Jesus<\/a> vs. the \u201cMAGA Jesus.\u201d<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\n Pope Leo is not simply challenging Trump. He\u2019s critiquing MAGA Jesus, the version of Jesus some of the president\u2019s followers have often invoked in recent years.\n <\/p>\n

\n The MAGA Jesus is not the one taught in Sunday School \u2014 the nonviolent, itinerant teacher who preached beatitudes such as \u201cblessed are the meek.\u201d He is the \u201cwarrior Christ\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the action-hero Jesus depicted in the Book of Revelation<\/a> with eyes like \u201cflames of fire\u201d and \u201ca robe dipped in blood\u201d who leads the armies of heaven while riding a white horse.\n <\/p>\n

\n This is the square-jawed Jesus wearing a red MAGA hat<\/a> whose image is often displayed at Trump\u2019s rallies<\/a>. It\u2019s the version of Christianity that Trump alluded to<\/a> when he recently said God supports America\u2019s war with Iran.\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s the version Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cited<\/a> when he asked Americans to pray<\/a> \u201cevery day, on bended knee\u201d for a military victory \u201cin the name of Jesus Christ\u201d against \u201capocalyptic\u201d Iranian enemies \u2014 or when he appeared<\/a> to read a fake Bible quote from the film \u201cPulp Fiction\u201d during a Pentagon prayer service.\n <\/p>\n

\"Latino<\/p>\n

\n What\u2019s changed in recent years is that many American fundamentalists and evangelicals prefer the MAGA Jesus to the real Jesus. This is what Peter Wehner, an author and former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, noted in an essay earlier this year entitled,<\/a> \u201cMAGA Jesus is not the real Jesus.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Right-wing movements \u201care prying Christianity further and further away from the ethic and teachings of Jesus,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe Trump administration has gone one step further, inverting authentic Christian faith by selling in a dozen different ways cruelty and the will to power in the name of Jesus. It has welcomed Christians into a theological twilight zone, where the beatitudes are invoked on behalf of a political movement with authoritarian tendencies.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n This kind of Jesus doesn\u2019t arise in a vacuum. This muscular version of Jesus has become increasingly visible because MAGA is not just a political movement; it\u2019s also a religious movement<\/a>. It offers Trump as its \u201cchosen one,\u201d<\/a> and Israel is the \u201cchosen nation.\u201d<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

\n It has its own set of prophets<\/a>, religious iconography,<\/a> claims of miracles<\/a>, and its own distinctive theology: White Christian nationalism<\/a> \u2014 a false belief that America was founded as a Christian nation.\n <\/p>\n

\n Some believe this warrior Christ is set to return because of the US\u2019 clash with Iran, Diana Butler Bass,<\/a> an historian and author told CNN<\/a> last year. She says some White evangelicals in the US see the hostilities with Iran as a sign that the world is approaching the \u201cend times<\/a>\u201d \u2014 a series of cataclysmic events ushering in the Second Coming of Christ.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThere\u2019s almost a kind of spiritual eagerness<\/a> for a war in the Middle East,\u201d Bass told CNN. \u201cThey believe a war is going to set off a series of events that will result in Jesus returning.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Pope<\/p>\n

\n For years, critics have tried to dismantle this \u201cMAGA Jesus.\u201d Some White evangelicals, religious scholars and others have labeled <\/a>this version of faith as \u201cheresy\u201d <\/a>and an \u201cimposter Christianity.\u201d<\/a> They\u2019ve written impassioned essays and made documentaries challenging its legitimacy \u2014 all without making much of a dent in the allure of MAGA Jesus.\n <\/p>\n

\n But Pope Leo may be the most formidable foe this form of Christianity has ever faced. He carries a moral authority as the \u201cVicar of Christ\u201d to the world\u2019s 1.4 billion Catholics. He is the first American-born pope.\n <\/p>\n

\n Pope Leo invokes another Jesus. That Jesus is not found primarily in the Book of Revelation but in the four New Testament Gospels and the Epistles, such as the Apostle Paul\u2019s<\/a> letters. He\u2019s also found in Catholic social teachings<\/a> which say that Christians are obligated to care for the poor and vulnerable; Christians should oppose the death penalty and abortion; and that targeting civilians in war is wrong and that nations must seek to avoid war.\n <\/p>\n

\n That tradition is why Pope Leo recently called<\/a> Jesus the \u201cKing of Peace, who rejects war,\u201d and \u2014 quoting the Old Testament prophet Isaiah \u2014 said that God rejects<\/a> the prayers of those leaders who start wars and \u201chave hands full of blood.\u201d It\u2019s why Leo criticized the Iran war on social media,<\/a> saying that any disciple of Christ \u201cis never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Pope<\/p>\n

\n Some may dismiss Pope Leo\u2019s rebukes as inconsequential. Russian dictator Joseph Stalin reportedly once dismissed the Pope during World War II by asking, \u201cThe Pope \u2014 how many divisions does he have?\u201d And will Leo\u2019s criticisms prompt Trump\u2019s MAGA Christian followers to completely break from the President? Probably not.\n <\/p>\n

\n Yet there is historic precedent for a pope\u2019s moral authority reshaping a political movement. Pope John Paul<\/a> II would play<\/a> an instrumental role in the collapse of communism in Russia. His 1979 visit to Poland sparked a \u201cpsychological earthquake\u201d that spread throughout the communist bloc and led to the downfall of the Soviet Union.\n <\/p>\n

\"Pope<\/p>\n

\"Pope<\/p>\n

\n Pope Leo\u2019s words have added impact for another reason: He grew up in America. He can\u2019t be<\/a> easily dismissed as an \u201canti-American Argentinian leftist\u201d like his predecessor, Pope Francis, was sometimes labeled.\n <\/p>\n

\n Vice President JD Vance has also waded into this debate. He recently said<\/a> the Pope should \u201cbe careful\u201d when talking about theology and questioned Leo\u2019s insistence<\/a> that disciples of Christ are never on the side of those who wage war.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWas God on the side of the Americans who liberated France from the Nazis?\u201d Mr. Vance said after referring to the pope\u2019s comment. \u201cI certainly think the answer is yes.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Vance\u2019s comments, and the spat between Pope Leo and Trump, represent a missed opportunity for a vigorous debate about the Catholic Church\u2019s \u201cJust War theory<\/a>.\u201d That moral teaching says a nation can legitimately only \u201ctake up the sword in self-defense once all peace efforts have failed,\u201d along with other considerations.\n <\/p>\n

\n But that debate has been lost in the focus on soundbites and AI images of Jesus that frame the clash between Pope Leo and Trump. And the debate will intensify if more people suffer and die in America\u2019s war with Iran.\n <\/p>\n

\n If the war goes on, the country\u2019s divisions over the conflict will deepen \u2014 and opposing sides will continue to cite their version of Jesus.\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n John Blake is a CNN senior writer and author of the award-winning memoir, \u201cMore Than I Imagined: What a Black Man Discovered About the White Mother He Never Knew<\/a>.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you think the clash between Pope Leo XIV and President Donald Trump is just a war of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[10355,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-614404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-enterprise","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}