Two leaders in the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) have issued outspoken responses to recent remarks and actions by US President Donald Trump, who in a social media post, attacked Pope Leo XIV and then posted an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus figure.
Writing on The Daily Maverick news website, Cardinal Stephen Brislin, archbishop of Johannesburg and president of the SACBC, warned that “the Catholic Church should never be a platform for political theatre”. While the Church does not seek conflict with political leaders, “neither can we remain silent when innocent people are being killed on immoral grounds, and when political players make bad decisions”.
Full article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-04-13-speaking-truth-to-power-why-the-catholic-church-wont-be-silenced-by-trump/
Pope Leo had implicitly criticised the US/Israel attack on Iran and Israel’s war on Lebanon. The pope decried “senseless and inhuman violence”, especially in the lands of early Christianity that have been “desecrated by the blasphemy of war and the brutality of business, with no regard for people’s lives”.
He said that no cause can justify the spilling of innocent blood, and noted that “God does not bless any conflict”.
Trump criticised Pope Leo by calling him “weak on crime”, “terrible for foreign policy”, and “a very liberal person” who should “stop catering to the radical left”. The US president also suggested the pope’s election in May 2025 was politically motivated, claiming that “if I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican”.
Cardinal Brislin, who participated in the conclave that elected Pope Leo, rejected the latter claim. The election, he wrote, was “one of the most profound and beautiful moments in the life of the Church”. Those gathered in the Sistine Chapel “did not consider any particular political leader as a factor”, nor the nationality of the future pontiff. Rather, “under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we elected the person who was best suited”.
Since his election, the cardinal noted, Pope Leo has addressed major global issues — war, migrants, climate, disinformation — not as personal opinions but as expressions of the Church’s consistent teaching. “These are not the pope’s personal positions,” he wrote, “it is the stance of the Catholic Church as a whole.”
“Criticism, even sharp criticism, has its place in a free society,” the cardinal said. “The Church herself has endured, indeed rightly at times, and has benefited from criticism and scrutiny. What is at stake here is not a policy or political disagreement; it is the temptation to recast moral teaching as partisan provocation.
“When the successor of Peter speaks about the dignity of migrants, the demands of justice, or the responsibilities of nations toward the vulnerable, he does so not as a politician advancing an agenda, but as a shepherd articulating principles rooted in the gospel and with concern for those whose voices are often not heard,” Cardinal Brislin said.
“It is precisely because these principles, these ethical imperatives, transcend borders and ideologies and so become inconvenient for some. They challenge both left and right, liberal and conservative, powerful and powerless alike. To interpret them solely through the lens of political advantage is to misinterpret — perhaps intentionally — their nature and the church itself.”
Cardinal Brislin noted that the papacy “is not merely an office of governance — it is a witness”, one that has historically unsettled those in power. To interpret its message through political advantage is to misunderstand its nature. While Trump “is entitled to his views”, the cardinal cautioned that “words shape not only opinions but also the moral climate”.
Bishop Thulani Mbuyisa, chair of the SACBC’s Justice & Peace Commission, condemned Trump’s post featuring an image of himself as Jesus Christ. The image, he said, “trivialises the mystery of the Incarnation and the person of Christ”, adding that it is “blasphemous and constitutes a grave offence against the Christian faith”.
Bishop Mbuyisa CMM Condemns “Trump’s attacks” directed at Pope Leo XIV
Bishop Mbuyisa warned that such imagery reflects a broader ideological trend: the elevation of political leaders into quasi-religious figures. The J&P Commission rejects “forms of Christian nationalism that encourage the worship of political leaders” and portray them as “‘political messiahs’ tasked with making their nations great again”. Such tendencies, the bishop said, risk distorting the Gospel into an instrument of power.
Bishop Mbuyisa described Trump’s attack on Leo XIV as unjust and harmful. The Holy Father exercises a “pastoral and prophetic” ministry, “proclaiming the peace of the Risen Christ to a world wounded by personal and structural sin”.
Both Cardinal Brislin and Bishop Mbuyisa condemned the misuse of religious language and symbolism in political discourse.
The pope’s own words offer a counterpoint to the escalating rhetoric, Cardinal Brislin wrote. “Too many people are suffering today,” he said, calling on leaders to “end wars and promote peace and reconciliation”.
In a world marked by conflict and division, Bishop Mbuyisa said, “too many lives are being lost” and “too much suffering is borne by the most vulnerable”. In such a moment, both Church leaders urged, silence is not an option.
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