A Catholic leader who oversees an area that includes Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate has slammed the president over his feud with Pope Leo XIV.
Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez — who heads the Diocese of Palm Beach, Florida — wrote in a post to social media last week that the diocese “stands firmly with the Holy Father” and “strongly rejects the disrespectful and violent attacks” that Trump had directed against him, per a Google translation.
The bishop’s message goes on to state that the attacks “constitute a grave violation of the religious freedom enshrined” in the U.S. Constitution and, “as such, harm the rights of the American Catholic faithful.”
A similar message, shared by Catholic commentator and Democratic operative Christopher Hale in a post to X, concluded with Rodríguez asking people to pray for Leo’s safety.
The message was shared during Sunday mass, per Hale.
