“I’m not afraid.”
With these three words on Sunday morning, Pope Leo XIV gave as powerful a condemnation of President Trump and everything he has done to the world as anyone has ever done.
Three words mocking Trump for being a bully.
Three words undercut Trump’s self-proclaimed aura of invincibility.
Three words to encourage all good people to fight Trump – because if a gentle man of God like Leo is not afraid, no one should be.
Pope Leo’s words make me very happy as an American but especially as a Catholic. His quiet, confident testimony since he became pope in May had already lit a spiritual light in me to hold close to the faith with which I was raised.
Trump’s actions in his second term – war, deportations, bad rhetoric and self-interest above all else – have been fuel to that fire. They go against everything I’ve ever been taught is good and holy.
Hearing Leo bash the president, at a time when many people insist that we must be steeped in Trump’s ways to beat him, is like receiving a sacrament I didn’t know I needed.
Leo spoke a few hours after Trump denounced him on social media, calling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” – all because of the pope’s criticism of endless wars and the country’s mistreatment of undocumented immigrants, while never mentioning anyone by name.
Until now.
“I am not afraid of Trump’s administration or speaking out loud about the message of the Gospel, which is the work of the church,” he told reporters when he traveled to Algeria to start a 10-day African mission. He repeated this message later, saying: “I am not afraid.”
In response, Trump melted down like the Nazis at the end of “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” criticizing the pope to reporters and posting a picture of himself on social media as a robed savior healing a sick man, light from his hands.
The heartbreaking fusillade even angered Catholic League President Bill Donohue, who has made it a point to denounce liberal Catholics and who defended Trump last year after the president shared a photo of himself wearing papal robes and a hat after the death of Pope Francis. In this, Donohue took Trump’s Christ-like portrayal as “offensive and immature.”
President Trump raises his hand as he returns to the White House on Sunday. In a brief interview with reporters, he criticized Pope Leo XI as “too liberal.”
(Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press)
There is a lot that scares the president these days, not just because he broke the Ten Commandments with his corrupt Jesus position, which quickly disappeared. One of the few elders left in his kingdom must have reminded him that opposing the Catholics was a bad political move. About 55% of them voted for him in the 2024 election, many in states like Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that sided with Joe Biden – a Catholic – four years ago.
A Fox News poll released last week found that only 48% of Catholics nationwide approve of Trump’s performance overall. Although 57% of white Catholics still support Trump, most of them are unhappy with his actions in Iran – an issue that has become a millstone around his neck.
Trump’s second term has been a nightmare that seems to be getting worse every day. However, not only is this country still standing, but more and more people are waking up to his mockery of American values. One of the new heroes is Leo, who told reporters that he does not speak for the politics of his country, but to give, in his role as the head of 1.4 billion Catholics, a reminder of what Jesus did and preached.
No wonder Trump, who wants to idolize himself like the king of Canaan, is upset.
May Leo’s words rouse many good people, of whatever faith, to rise up against Trump – and especially move lapsed Catholics back to Mother Church.
US Catholics have long served as a measure of acceptance for newcomers and the working class. But only about 20% of Americans identify as Catholic, according to a Pew Research Center study released last year. And only 30% of those Catholics go to Mass every week. More are leaving the faith than taking it, in numbers that far exceed other Christian denominations. This breakdown has allowed a conservative wing of the Catholic Church to take over, moving away from the historic mission that led us to Trump.
My lifelong commitment to social justice and my lifelong skepticism of power and greed come from what I learned growing up in St. Boniface in Anaheim. I even had aspirations to become a priest, because I find few things better than devoting your life to helping others.
I stopped going to Mass when I started covering the church’s sexual abuse scandals as a journalist. It angered me that men who considered themselves to be God’s guardians on Earth not only allowed such crimes to happen but often covered them up and kept the criminals away from poor counties like me.
I didn’t stop praying or considering myself Catholic – but I couldn’t support institutions run by men like LA Archbishop José H. Gómez and Orange Diocese Bishop Kevin Vann, who always seem to have sharp words for progress but not for Trump.
It’s been a long road back for me to write openly about my faith with pride – but Trump’s continued apostasy has made it necessary. I still don’t know when and if I will start going to Mass regularly, but the fact that I am thinking about it shows Leo’s influence on me.
Recently, someone I was talking to noticed my Santo Niño de Atocha scapular with the word “Amor” on the other side. Last year, I put this simple devotional necklace inside the plastic sleeve that holds my Los Angeles Times badge, along with a few religious medals.
Pope Leo caused that. Trump caused that. Any chance to talk about my Catholic faith and why Trump is bad, I’ll take it.
I’m not afraid.
