‘It’s kind of a tough situation’: US Catholics torn in feud between president and the pope

Key Points:

• Weekly Bible study groups in Decatur, Georgia, attempt to avoid politics, but discussions about Donald Trump arise, with some praying for a softer heart for the president amid political divisions in Catholic communities.
• Pope Leo XIV has criticized the U.S. war in Iran and the use of religion to justify violence, prompting sharp reactions from Trump and his supporters, who accuse the pope of being "weak on crime" and misunderstanding "just war" theology.
• Despite Pope Francis's criticisms of U.S. policies on war and immigration, about half of American Catholics have continued to support Trump, though polls indicate declining approval among Catholic voters before recent controversies.
• Catholic voters in the U.S. are politically diverse, with white Catholics trending Republican and Hispanic Catholics leaning Democratic; the pope's moral authority challenges Trump's political standing within this influential religious demographic.
• Trump supporters and conservative Catholic commentators often frame the pope's critiques as politically motivated attacks aimed at dividing Catholics and undermining Trump's support, reflecting ongoing tensions between religious and political loyalties.