Florida theologian weighs in on Trump-Pope clash, US-Vatican relations

• A growing divide is emerging between the U.S. president and the pontiff, signaling a shift in the relationship between Washington and the Vatican.
• The Vatican is reportedly refocusing on core Christian messages rather than aligning with U.S. political values.
• Policy differences on immigration, foreign aid, and artificial intelligence are contributing to the rift.

A leading local theologist said the growing verbal and social media chasm between the president and pontiff speaks to a "re-articulation" of the decades-long partnership between Washington and the Vatican.

"What's really going on is a re-articulation that is acutely aware of the various spaces globally, and the significant decline of U.S. voice and credibility," said Bryan Froehl, professor of practical theology at Palm Beach Atlantic University.

"Right now, it's clear that the focus [of the Church] needs to be not about a connection with those particular U.S. values, or trying to engage those values, in an ecclesial or, if you prefer, Christian light. But to let those values be those values and to focus instead on the core Christian message, the core Gospel message."

Froehle explained that the Vatican and U.S. government have long aligned on shared "values" — principally global, mutual causes.

Those included international poverty relief initiatives launched by America's first Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, in the early 1960s. Later, there was cooperation in the anti-communism efforts of President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II, which the two discussed in a 1987 meeting at Miami's Vizcaya museum and gardens. This century, the alliance focused on right-to-life issues, including rolling back abortion rights in the United States.

Under the second Trump administration, much of those interdependent bonds appear to be fraying.

Last year, the government cost-cutting campaign led by the world's richest man, Elon Musk, decimated the U.S. agency that funded scores of health and other programs assisting the planet's poorest societies. The president's campaign against immigrants, legal and not, in the United States has cut against a key Catholic tenet, embracing strangers seeking refuge from conflict and oppression. And just this month, the pontiff denounced the attempt to "manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain."

Froehle concedes the recent verbal and social media clashes between the U.S.-born president and the U.S.-born pontiff have drawn international attention. But he cautions there are deeper policy implications underlying the public jousting.

In part, the Holy See is embracing positions in line with "Catholic social duty," he said, that place emphasis on caring for the disadvantaged. Trump, meanwhile, has long the United States should pursue what he has dubbed an "America first" policy that sets American interests as the paramount priority in its foreign initiatives.

While that divergence in priorities has played out on issues such as immigration, Froehle said other topics are already being considered, including the proliferation of artificial intelligence on humanity.

"This whole focus on AI becomes very interesting, because it's something that, for example, Pope Leo is brought up, and that many others are looking," Froehle said.

Froehle notes the global Catholic Church is a network of more than 6,000 dioceses across the planet. As such, it has a more expansive reach and "deeper engagement" with a variety of issues and within the rubric of an ecclesiastical framework guided by Gospel teachings. That means the Church's focus extends well beyond one country, no matter how powerful or wealthy it may be.

That said, the policy schism has already played out in painful ways for causes the American Church has engaged with.

Beyond slashing of global assistance to impoverished nations, the International Rescue Committee reported in January that the Trump administration also sharply curtailed resettlement funding and programs to assist immigrants in America assimilate into U.S. society. And just this month, amid the spat with the Vatican, $11 million contract with Catholic Charities to shelter and care for migrant children.

The wildcard is the reaction of American Catholics, who backed Trump with about 60% of their votes in 2024. Froehle predicted U.S. Catholics will support the re-articulation pursued by the Vatican.

"I would suggest to you, over these four years of the present administration you may see a more rapid participation of U.S. Catholicism in that global rearticulation," Froehle said. "You're going to see a catch-up on that leg."

There are signs the U.S. Catholic flock is not so supportive of the president.

In late March, weeks before the flare up between president and pontiff, a poll conducted by Shaw & Company Research and Beacon Research found Trump’s approval rating among Catholic voters fell underwater to 48% favorable and 52% disapproving.

Another survey issued by NBC News found Pope Leo's approval rating among Americans 34 points in positive territory while Trump stood at minus 12 points.

For the Vatican, as the noise subsides from the Trump social media posts and the pontiff's criticism subsides, Froehle said a continued "careful recalibration" of its global relationships will go on.

"You're going to observe a careful and quiet recalibration," he said. "Because the careful and quiet recalibration recognizes that the Church needs to think in centuries, and that the pressures in this particular particular moment in U.S. history and in global history, are losing their political capital very quickly."

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected]. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.