President Donald Trump is facing a firestorm of criticism from leaders of the Roman Catholic Church after posting on social media a computer-generated image of himself as pope in full papal regalia as the Catholics worldwide continue to mourn Pope Francis. 

At least one U.S. bishop said President Donald Trump needs to apologize and even his closest prelate in the church, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, said it was “not good.”

The image was posted on Trump’s official X accounts – one from the White House and one from his personal account. They were posted just after 5 a.m. on May 3, days after telling reporters in Washington, “I’d like to be pope. That would be my number one choice”

Trump made the comment with a straight face and then endorsed his friend, Dolan. Supporters said he was joking. 

On May 3, after the tweet was posted, Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, dismissed the controversy about the image of Trump dressed in white as a joke. 

The White House did not respond to an email seeking comment. Asked about the criticism, White House Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Associated Press, “President Trump flew to Italy to pay his respects for Pope Francis and attend his funeral, and he has been a staunch champion for Catholics and religious liberty.”

The New York State Catholic Conference said on X there is “nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President. We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St. Peter. Do not mock us.”

In Rome, Dolan, the archbishop of New York, was stopped by reporters and asked about it. “I hope he didn’t have anything to do with that,” according to a social media post by a multimedia journalist for the New York archdiocese. 

“Are you offended by that?” a journalist asked. 

Dolan paused and replied, “It wasn’t good.” He repeated that in Italian for Roman journalists and laughed nervously. 

There appeared to be no comment from U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on May 3. In fact, those in the Catholic hierarchy appear reticent to mention the AI image at all, despite its social media virality. As of the morning of May 4th, only a select few bishops had addressed the image directly.

Despite silence from the hierarchy, prominent Catholics have taken to social media to condemn the image.

James Martin, a priest and columnist based in New York, said on social media, “Jesuits are always supposed to give people the benefit of the doubt. So even though I find this deeply offensive, I will presume that Mr. Trump meant this light-heartedly (even though he had just recently returned from Pope Francis’s Funeral Mass, and he has a Catholic Vice President who met with Francis the day before his death).:

Then Martin said that Trump gets special treatment with his behavior. “But imagine the incandescent outrage, the swift condemnation, and the individual and joint protests from the US bishops if this had been done by Joe Biden or Barack Obama.” – 

Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, a Catholic and television commentator, raised questions about the president’s competence.

“During this period of Novemdiales (mourning the loss of Pope Francis) I’ll set this offense aside,” said Steele, who recently attended the installation of the new archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Robert McElroy.

“More to the point, this affirms how unserious and incapable he is. At 78 he remains a 10yo child, emotionally scarred and broken while desperate to prove he could be somebody. His problem: he can’t grow up to prove it.”

One bishop seemed to allude to the controversy. Brownsville Bishop Daniel Flores appeared to be making a veiled reference when he wrote on X: “Just when you thought it was safe to go back to checking your timeline once in a while. Read a good book, folks, go visit an elderly relative, anything to keep the algorithms from eating your soul.” 

In Rome, Italians expressed confusion and dismay at the post. 

“When I saw the image of Trump dressed as the pope on the news, I first laughed, said Maria Giulia Pernice, a retired Italian teacher while in line to enter St. John’s Basilica for a Jubilee visit. “Then I went online to see if it was really him who posted it or his fans.” 

Guido Tombarelli, a tour guide who was accompanying Pernice’s group, said it seemed odd given that Trump had just paid his respects to Francis in St. Peter’s Square. “I just can’t understand why it was necessary to publish that photo when just a week ago he was here in Rome for his funeral,” Tombarelli said. 

Camillo Barone and John Grosso contributed to this story.