Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo XIV polarizing the diverse community as faith and politics come to a head
Maryellen Lewicki meets once a week for Bible study with a group of Catholic women in Decatur, Georgia, in a space they try to keep clear of politics. But Donald Trump’s name arises nonetheless.
“We have one person that we pray for during the course of the week,” she said. “What my friend said is that she prays for the president every day, that God will remove that hard heart of his and replace it with a softer one that has love.”
Lewicki attends St Thomas More in an affluent suburb of Atlanta. Most of the congregation at the Jesuit church and school are politically progressive, befitting the community around it. An image of Trump as Christ healing the sick, posted and withdrawn by Trump on his social media page this week, changes few minds about the president here.
An age of political outrage has eroded Americans’ capacity for shock. But the response by Trump and other Republican leaders and supporters to criticism from Pope Leo XIV against the war in Iran has tested that proposition.
