President Donald Trump congratulated Robert Francis Prevost after his election as pope Thursday, making him the first American-born pontiff in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.
Prevost, 69, of Chicago, will be known as Pope Leo XIV.
“It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country,” the president wrote.
“I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”
Leo has not always had positive words for the U.S. president and his administration, however.
A verified X account linked to the new pope shared an article in February criticizing Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, over his interpretation of Jesus’ teachings.
“JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” read the headline of the article shared by Prevost’s account.
Source: Robert Prevost on X
In April, the account re-posted another tweet criticizing Trump over his administration’s mass-deportation efforts.
“Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?” the tweet read, quoting Bishop Evelio Menjivar in an article for the Catholic Standard titled, “This Ordeal is the Passion.”
Prevost was chosen on the second day of a papal conclave in Vatican City. The cardinals’ selection of the successor to Pope Francis, who died on April 21 at age 88, was revealed by white smoke billowing from a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel.
Days after returning from Francis’ funeral in Rome, Trump joked to reporters that he’d “like to be pope.”
Trump later posted an AI-generated image of himself dressed as the pope, drawing criticism.
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