Say Action, ‘It’s Not Clever Or Funny’
By Kolawole Ojebisi
The New York State Catholic Conference, has expressed its displeasure over the United States President Donald Trump’s viral AI-generated images of himself dressing as the Pope.
The NYS Catholic Conference is an organisation that represents the bishops of the state in working with government to shape laws and policies that promote social justice and respect for life.
The organisation interpreted Trump’s action as a deliberate move to make the Catholic Church the butt of jokes.
It made this known in a post on X.com on Sunday,:
“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.” the NYS Catholic Conference wrote.
The US president shared the image on his Truth Social platform where it has generated deluge of comments, sparking debate over the propriety of Trump’s action.
The digitally altered image, later reposted by the White House’s official X account, showed Trump in full papal regalia—flowing white robes, a golden crucifix, and a mitre—with one finger raised skywards.
Recall that Trump had, in the wake of Pope Francis’ passing, jokingly told reporters, “I’d like to be pope, that would be my number one choice,” when asked who he backed as the next head of the Catholic Church.
While Trump didn’t endorse any contender, he alluded to “a very good” cardinal in New York, widely believed to be Archbishop Timothy Dolan, a staunch theological conservative with a clear stance against abortion.
The US president’s statement came amid the Catholic conclave’s efforts to elect a successor to Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21.
