Top Trump Official Escalates Attacks on the Pope and Bishops

After attacking the pope, Tom Homan has now accused Bishop Rojas of dishonesty. MAGA’s Catholic problem just got worse.

White House Border Czar Tom Homan has attacked Catholic leaders multiple times during the first six months of Trump’s second term.

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Have we ever seen a presidential administration so openly feud with the Catholic Church?

Not long ago, it was unimaginable for White House officials to attack Catholic clergy. Yet in recent months, Trump’s hardline MAGA camp has done exactly that.

Homan vs. the Pope and Bishops

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan — a self-professed lifelong Catholic — has launched blistering tirades against Church leaders.

In February, after Pope Francis condemned Trump’s mass deportation program as inhumane, Homan lashed out.

He told Fox News the pope should “leave enforcement to us” and “stick to the Catholic Church,” even sniping that “he’s got a wall around the Vatican, does he not?”

Now Homan has turned his anger on an American bishop.

This week Bishop Alberto Rojas excused immigrant parishioners from attending Mass amid fears of ICE raids.

Homan derided the move as “BS,” claiming “not a single incident of a church arrest” has occurred, calling the bishop a liar.

In fact, ICE recently made arrests at two local churches in his diocese.

A DHS spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, even invoked the commandment against bearing false witness, implying the bishop was lying.

Homan’s over-the-top TV rants have led some viewers to question his sobriety, with people quipping that “he’s slurring his words” and that “he should quit drinking.”

Unprecedented Attacks on Catholic Leaders

It’s one thing for activists to clash with church teaching, but another for a president to smear Catholic clergy.

That was unthinkable until recently, but now it’s reality.

When Cardinal Robert McElroy (Washington’s archbishop) blasted Trump’s deportation crackdown as “morally repugnant,” the White House dismissed him.

Spokesperson Abigail Jackson sneered that “the American people elected President Trump, not a DC Archbishop.”

Likewise, Bishop Rojas’s warnings were simply brushed aside by Trump’s team.

These episodes highlight a growing Catholic problem for MAGA.

Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda is fundamentally at odds with Catholic social teaching, prompting fierce criticism from Church leaders.

Rather than seek common ground, Trump’s team has chosen to ridicule and attack these faith leaders.

This feud with the Church is stark evidence of how big a problem MAGA has.

Once-unthinkable hostility now threatens to become the norm, raising a dire question: At what cost is MAGA waging war on the Church’s moral voice?

Thank you for reading this article. We are 100% sustained by your generosity. If you find value in my work, please consider supporting me by becoming a paid subscriber today.

Paid subscriptions start at only $6.67 per month and will get you full access to this multi-part series on life and formation of Pope Leo. The second part of the series was released earlier today.