The president seems to be surprised that Catholics of all stripes are rushing to defend Pope Leo from his odd attacks.
On Tuesday he went after Giorgia Meloni of Italy. She said his attacks on Leo were “unacceptable.” He said, “She’s unacceptable. She’s unacceptable because she doesn’t mind that Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if they had the chance.”
He made a swipe at Riley Gaines of all people for criticizing his attacks on the pope.
To be sure, we wish the pope would not say certain things, such as when he appears to deny the concept of just war:
God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.
One also wishes the pope did not follow and react to the daily news cycle. You don’t have to speak to all microphones on all topics.
Having said all that, Trump ought not to go after Leo, and he ought to understand that Catholics of all stripes will defend Leo. I am not sure how true this was under Francis, but more Catholics are claiming Leo as their own than ever did under Francis.
The problem for Trump is that he is not of our tribe. Let me explain.
I use a taxonomy of Yoram Hazony’s from his masterful book The Virtue of Nationalism.
He argues that nations do not magically come together one day when there is a document and an agreement—the so-called “consent of the governed.” He argues instead for organic growth that begins with family, then clan, then tribe, and finally nation.
He argues correctly that we were a people long before we had a government. And if our government ever fell, we would remain a people. I will refer you to his book to explain how families become clans, which then become tribes, and then, finally, become nations. It mostly concerns trust, identity, and common defense. But we’ll apply at least a part of this to the Church.
I live in Northern Virginia, surrounded by faith-filled Catholic families, dozens and dozens of them, and several powerful schools of all levels. In my upcoming book, Not Just for Kings: The Secrets to a 500-Year Family, I refer to this grouping as the Great Northern Virginia Catholic Clan. Across the Potomac River in Maryland is the Great Montgomery County Catholic Clan. There are such clans all across the country: Dallas, Front Royal, Steubenville, Chicago, Orange County, Birmingham, Cincinnati, and many more. Our children gather at amazing schools like the University of Dallas, Franciscan, Benedictine, TAC, Belmont Abbey, Christendom, and many more.
There is, as Peter Wolfgang refers to it, a re-ghettoization. Many decades ago, there were ethnic parishes all over, in every city: Italian, Polish, German, Irish. These were derisively called ghettoes; they were embarrassing to some, but they were very valuable, more valuable than what happened after: the great vanillazation of Catholics and Catholicism.
The problem for Trump is that he is not of our tribe.Tweet ThisThere seems to be a great effort at re-ghettoization, and this is a good thing. There is pushback from some, whose names I will not mention but who may have grown up in places like Steubenville and now find these places culturally and theologically distasteful, even harmful.
And there is this effort to make Catholicism weird again, what with Catholics processing through secular streets wearing funny clothes with incense filling the air. These customs tie us together.
So, what you see all across our country are families, clans, and then the Tribe. We are part of a Tribe that stretches across the country, from shore to shore, border to border. Meet someone somewhere and tell them your daughter goes to UD and dollars to donuts you will hear, “Oh, then you must know the Smiths…or the Tellers…or whomever.” “Oh sure, we know them well.”
Sometimes I wish our Tribe were bigger and that we did not know everyone. One day it will come.
But in the meantime, what Trump has inadvertently done is go after our Tribe. And he put up that meme of him as a healing Christ. Good grief. Talk about an own goal. At least he admitted it in his own way by taking it down and dissembling about it.
Part of the problem is that he is not one of us. As I wrote several years ago, after the kerfuffle about Trump saying, “Happy Good Friday,” or the time he said, “Two Corinthians,” instead of “Second Corinthians,” Christianity is not his native tongue. He does not know our language or our ways, and he does not understand that you cannot go after the pope. Catholics of all stripes will step in to defend the pope.
The bottom line for me is that I like Trump and I like Leo, and they ought to knock it off.
I want to thank both Greg & Jim for their realistic summation of this present issue between the Pope & our President … Im glad Jim mentioned the holy & wise Venerable Archbishop Sheen . His exact quote was :
“Who’s going to save our Church? It’s not our bishops, it’s not our priests and it is not the religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that the priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops, and the religious act like religious.”
He also stated :
Our first duty of patriotism is to bring our Christian faith to the public square:
It is our solemn duty as Catholics to be conscious of our duty to America, and to preserve its freedom by preserving its faith in God.
Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen
And to quote another holy , wise man Saint Maximilian Kolbe :
Our duty to obey our Bishops ends, when they stray ,even slightly into error … because then they are not doing the will of God.
St. Maximiilan Kolbe
And finally for God’s word itself :
“But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain —and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.”
Exodus 18:21;
I do believe God Himself anointed President Trump for this time in the history of our Church .. Like St. Paul who at one time killed followers of Christ, President Trump may not be ‘one of us’ yet but like St. Paul his awakening was the attempted assassination during his campaign . He is being healed of his blindness as he continues to ‘fight the good fight’ against evil at home & in Iran ..
Our duty is to pray that God continue to give him continued wisdom, protection & the grace to embrace the fullness of our faith … We also are called to pray that
the Holy Spirit pour out His guidance over Pope Leo & his magisterium . We ask all of this in our Lord & Saviour’s Precious Name .. Amen ☨
Thank you for the full Sheen quote. I’d forgotten he used the noun “mission.”
If you’re not familiar with Tom Zimmer, a WW II vet who lived in Italy, aka the Hermit of Leroy’s then, you should look him up.
He predicted what we’re seeing today with Trump.
Your welcome James … Heartbreaking seeing the enemy deceive so many souls …Especially the Shepherds … But at the same time it’s so encouraging to see so many of the faithful be open to the truth & realize God’s generosity in giving us President Trump to defend and lead our nation to be once again “One Nation under God ” !
Another in a series of myopic screeds emanating from this site. As if oblivious to the wave of destruction of Abigail Spanberg, the newly elected governor has perpetrated on the state of Virginia, Ruse proclaims “I live in Northern Virginia, surrounded by faith-filled Catholic families, dozens and dozens of them, and several powerful schools of all levels. In my upcoming book, Not Just for Kings: The Secrets to a 500-Year Family, I refer to this grouping as the Great Northern Virginia Catholic Clan.” , Mr. Ruse proclaims all of us Catholics are of the same tribe or clan. I beg to differ. You see tribe and clan are nouns. Basically, names for things. To me being Catholic is a verb. It is engrained in every fiber of my being, and it is who I am. It is not denoted by a sticker on my car’s back window or a yard sign, it is demonstrated in everything I do. What we are seeing is a delineation of those who practice their faith and those who are Catholic in name only. Those that practice their faith know their faith. That seems to be where the struggle begins. Those that know their faith don’t see that reflected in the post-Councilor Church. Modernism has and continues to be corrosive and destructive. What Church Doctrine states is not reflected in Church leadership. We expect a lot of our leaders. We expect President Trump to speak with the eloquence and demeanor of the most powerful man in the world. Having said that I ask what kind of a person does it take to operate in environment surrounded by backstabbers, liars, thieves, traitors and deviants? Even his own party works against him. He has been the target of assassins, liars, traitors, rogue judges etc. He works for no salary. He tries to fulfill his promises. I don’t like many of the things he says and he demonstrates too much bravado for me. I don’t agree with everything he does. But I have never and most likely will never question his desire to achieve the best for this nation. I can’t say the same for Pope Leo. Most of the time I don’t like what he says because it rarely aligns with genuine Church teaching. Unlike President Trump, Pope Leo has a rich guidebook he could follow. His quoting the Gospel is commendable, but his selective use and one-sided viewpoint diminish the office of the Pope. Where was he before the bombs started to drop and the missiles started to fly in Iran? Where is any criticism of a regime that has fomented terrorism across the globe for nearly 50 years? I tell you where he was, he was blessing a chunk of ice with such luminaries as Arnold Schwarteneger. Considering such ridiculous actions and demonstrated blindness why would anybody listen to a word he says. Some might think that because he inhabits the Chair of Peter he is due some respect. To some extent I would agree with that, but that seat has been so diminished it is nearly irrelevant. Actions such as the Three Stooges (Cupich, McElroy and Tobin) on 60 Minutes only illustrate and exacerbate the situation. A book everyone should read is Index of Leading Catholic Indicators. It is an in-depth measure of every aspect of Catholic life for quite some time. The Church has failed EVERY way you want to look at it except for growth in Africa. EVERY metric indicates serious decline. The Vatican’s response to this is to double down on the disaster we know as Vatican II. What business, what club, what tribe would allow leadership this ineffective to continue to serve in a leadership role? We have come to the point where one must believe that no one is that stupid, no one is that misguided that their actions are deliberate and destructive and have been for quite some time. There is NO SALVATION OUTSIDE THE CHURCH. Paragraph 846 in the John Paul II Catechism states that. When have you ever heard a priest, bishop or Pope say that? Quite the opposite in fact. Paragraph 907 of the same states that not only do we have a right to speak out if we are being led astray but we have an obligation….. an obligation. This demonstrated incompetence is resulting in a revival of sorts. In my own life what I was hearing from the Church did not square with what is knew to be the Truth of my Catholic faith. I came to a point where I no longer believed the constant drivel emanating from the pulpit and the leadership. I have found my own way. There are some good priests out there but not many. There are some good bishops out there but very few. I take no joy in saying that, but it is the truth. How long are we going to sit idly and watch the destruction of our Church? How many more millions will leave the faith because of this poor leadership and confusion? How many billions are going to be paid out before we realize the bishops are never going to address the real problem? How many Latin communities and other faithful are going to be crushed before we realize the real goal of the leadership is not growth but destruction? If Pope Leo wants to demonstrate his resolve for the good of the world doing a true consecration of Russia would be a good start. It is long past time for the Catholic Church to regain its unique role as the moral leader of the world. God will guide us if we let Him. He will bless us if we humble ourselves and belong to Him. Apologies for the lack of brevity.
So many good perspectives and comments. I find myself searching for something that may move things forward. Here goes.
We were doing a “Bible Basics” study earlier in the week. One theme was a focus on God’s covenants. A most excellent chart from The Great Adventure Bible (page 3, I think) is a graphic of the (Covenant Structure). Indeed, the notion of Tribes does appear. Under Abraham is the intention of forming One Holy Tribe.
As we move along, we see covenants leading to Nation, Kingdom and, finally One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. The final covenant being that of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So perhaps the question in not who is wrong or right-est. Or of tribes. Perhaps the question is what needs to happen to make us that One Church.
Suggest that one way or another, the Pope and the President need to find unity and get on the same page. Work together. Comments on whether I pick Pope or President do what to move that along … I am missing that point entirely.
At the “end of play” this is all our God’s plan being played out. Our God is the one who saved a person’s life so he could become President and it was our God who got a man from Illinois voted in as Pope. Both under one covenant … pray for them and us.
Tony
I want to begin by acknowledging the previous excellent responses by Domenic Perriello and James Jones. Your posts were well reasoned and very persuasive. You set a high bar that I have no hope of matching. Nevertheless, I will contribute what best I can.
Mr. Ruse, I think your tribal approach makes assumptions that are not fully supported by the all tribal members. Well many will no doubt rally to the Pope’s defense, others of us will view his statements as uninformed and unkind. That President Trump responded in his usual crude, rude, and aggressive manner is not unexpected. I wish he were more diplomatic, but I also wish the Pope were more thoughtful and informed.
Sadly, it seems he will reign more in the lamentable woke style of Francis than in the prudent and informed styles of Benedict and John Paul. It may be that all Catholics do not belong to your tribe, Mr. Ruse. Some of us may belong to a tribe more receptive and accommodating to President Trump.
I note that the tribes you are so proud of reside in Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, Maryland, both reliably true blue woke Democrat strongholds. It seems like your tribes have much work to do in your own neighborhoods unless, of course, like our Pontiff, you subscribe to the go along to get along model, in which case the status quo is satisfactory.
Thank you Charles for your generosity.
Don’t underestimate your contribution. Well-reasoned, balanced reminding people about the dangers of tribalism.
We’re all one to God. He didn’t create tribes. Beware of anything that doesn’t come from God.
I think this conversation is missing some needed balance.
The article frames this primarily as a matter of “tribe”, that President Donald J. Trump is not “one of us,” and therefore doesn’t understand how Catholics relate to the papacy. But reducing this to identity or loyalty risks overlooking the more important question: how do we evaluate actions, statements, and policies in light of truth, justice, and prudence?
Catholic tradition has always allowed for disagreement on prudential matters—even with the pope. That’s not disloyalty; it’s part of a mature faith. We are not called to think tribally, but to think clearly and morally.
At the same time, we should be honest about what’s actually happening on all sides. Criticism of rhetoric is fair, tone matters. But it cannot be the only lens. We also have to weigh outcomes, consistency, and underlying worldview.
For example, many Catholics are not simply reacting out of “tribal loyalty” when they support Trump. They are making a comparative judgment. Even if they don’t like aspects of his rhetoric, they see a greater alignment with certain moral or anthropological truths than they do in alternative political visions. Ignoring that reality weakens the argument rather than strengthening it.
On the other side, when leaders—including Pope Leo XIV, speak on global conflicts, clarity matters. Calling for peace is right and necessary. But when evil actions, such as those of regimes that openly threaten destruction, are not clearly named, it can create the perception of imbalance. He in fact, has never addressed Irans part in this conflict. In that context, the discussion can shift from universal moral guidance to something that feels more personal or selective, which only deepens division.
Ultimately, Catholics shouldn’t be pushed into camps based on identity or rhetorical reactions. We are called to evaluate:
– What is true
– What is just
– What is prudent
– What best serves the common good
Reasonable people can disagree on how those are applied. But we should at least be having that conversation on those terms, not reducing it to who is or isn’t “of the tribe.”
The commentary at Crisis of late appears to favor critiques of the same political figure and often relies on similar framing. Is this simply the natural result of publishing a wide range of differing opinions, or does the recurring framing suggest an exploration of what arguments resonate most strongly with readers—and why? Perhaps this is simply how opinion journalism works. Perhaps not. I cannot know the intent behind these pieces or the reasons they are chosen for publication—only that the pattern is prevalent enough to give me pause.
Personally, I prefer to see discussion focused on moral principles rather than loyalty tests or cultural belonging. Readers are better served by arguments grounded in clear reasoning about justice, peace, and prudential judgment rather than rhetorical framing about identity or allegiance. Catholic tradition itself recognizes that prudential judgments in political and military matters are areas where faithful Catholics may disagree while still sharing the same moral foundations—including, at times, disagreement with the pope on matters of political prudence. Papal infallibility does not extend to such questions, and throughout the history of the Church Catholics have wrestled with these issues openly, going back even to the apostolic age when St. Paul challenged St. Peter at Antioch.
Of late, several opinion pieces appear to share a similar theme: encouraging readers to distance themselves from Trump. This article seems to follow that pattern, suggesting that Catholics should close ranks tribally in response to him because he “does not understand” that criticism of the pope only unifies Catholics against him. In doing so, it largely overlooks the thoughtful and well-reasoned pushback many readers have offered in response to previous articles.
My instinct is that this approach risks accomplishing the opposite of what is intended. Throughout history, various leaders have earned the trust of the populace, and once that trust is established it becomes difficult for opposition efforts—particularly repeated rhetorical attacks—to undermine it.
Over the past decade many Americans have observed a pattern in which political opposition often appears more focused on discrediting one individual than on governing. When criticism becomes constant and repetitive, it can lose its persuasive power and instead reinforce the public’s existing perceptions.
For many readers, support for President Trump does not stem from tribal loyalty but from the belief that his actions reflect what he has promised to do in the nation’s best interests. Whether one agrees with those policies or not, that perception of consistency has earned him a level of trust that repeated rhetorical attacks are unlikely to erode.
Ultimately, Catholics should not be asked to respond tribally to political figures, whether in defense or opposition. We are called to evaluate actions and policies through the lens of justice, prudence, and the common good.
Maybe not all stripes Austin.
I’ve heard different bishops, including the Bishop of Rome, insist categorically that that attack on Iran is not a just war. But, I haven’t heard one of them say why.
It’s not a yes or no question. To my mind this is a just war. I don’t see where it fails to meet any of the criteria.
I would like one of the Bishops to explain how ridding the world of a nuclear menace from Islamic religious fanatics after a half-century of negotiations is anything but a just war.
Tom Homan got it right. The Bishops should stay out of this. They don’t know what they’re talking about.
Bishop Sheen told us laity that we are the eyes and ears of the church and it is our duty to see to it that the clergy act like clergy.
Note he said duty.
Thank you for your excellent response!
Thank you Greg.
It is a duty.
Jim