MAGA Christians Don't Hate The Pope; They Hate His Jesus.

The Trump Administration and its MAGA disciples are at war with the Pope. Add him to their ever-growing enemies list, comprised of clergy, politicians, military personnel, journalists, athletes, musicians, and actors who dare not bend the knee to their Dear Leader; people who have the audacity to oppose this regime’s wasteful violence.In his Palm Sunday address in St. Peter’s Square, just a week before Easter, Pope Leo harshly criticized the war in Iran, saying, “(Jesus) does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them…. Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.” And in response, rather than choosing introspection, reflection, prayer, or repentance, they have chosen violent opposition; criticizing, condemning, and slandering him for his calls for people of faith to be people of peace.But it’s critical to be clear on what is happening here: these Conservative Christians don’t despise Pope Leo, at least not primarily. They don’t hate him as much as they hate his Jesus.They are sickened by the “Love your neighbor as yourself” Jesus, who has made him a champion of the poor and the sick.They spit in the face of the “blessed are the peacemakers” Jesus, who has compelled him to call for the abolition of the death penalty.They seethe with anger toward the “care for the least of these” Jesus, who moved him to previously confront JD Vance’s ridiculous position that in the New Testament, love is hierarchical based on geography.As with Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, the Reverend William Barber, and Pope Francis before Leo, when it comes to spiritual leaders, there is simply nothing that triggers MAGA Christians quite like the teachings of Jesus. Their perverted theology of exclusion dictates that they must reject anyone who represents a barrier to the theocratic fever dreams they have for this nation.Jesus’ kindness, his compassion, his mercy, and his selflessness all fly in the face of the predatory bully pulpit they are constructing at the Capitol. A Jesus who feeds the hungry, binds up the bleeding, calls out predatory power, condemns wealth, and welcomes the stranger all actively confront the religion of compulsion found in Project 2025, which has proven during Trump’s second term to be their true sacred text.Professional traitor, serial grifter, and loyal Trump henchman Steve Bannon has called Leo the “worst pick for MAGA Catholics,” declaring him the “anti-Trump pope.”If he’s the anti-Trump pope, that means he is a pro-Jesus pope—and that is the last thing this Christian cosplay ensemble needs right now.There is no place in their cruel congregation for an empathy that seeks to walk inside the shoes of another, no room for a soft heart toward those crushed by poverty and sickness, a zero-tolerance policy regarding the outsider or the foreigner seeking refuge.When the Pope declared, “This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, ​whom no one can use to justify war,” — this was itself a declaration of war in the hearts of those who desperately need a Jesus-less Christianity.So, Trump and his surrogates, disciples, and sycophants are now unleashing all manner of vitriol toward Pope Leo, but it isn’t the big story. The bigger story is that MAGA Christianity has no desire to acknowledge, embody, or align with the teachings of Jesus. As long as anyone who claims the Christian faith, whether clergy or lay leader or pew-sitter, strives to embody the lavish love of Jesus of Nazareth, they will be the enemy of the Religious Right.And the irony of all of this is that Christ’s teachings in the Gospels: of loving neighbor, of not returning violence for violence, of sharing abundance so that all can be fed, of looking after the vulnerable and the endangered, do not find such violent opposition from any other group of people on the planet.Agnostics, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Buddhists, Humanists, Wiccans, Hindus, Unitarians, and people of any other worldview can find some shared ground in those aspirations. They may not be deists or theists, or they may have an entirely different religious tradition as their pathway, and still feel some affinity in the Sermon on the Mount’s call to love their neighbor.The only people who fully reject Jesus’ wall-demolishing compassion, his abhorrence of war, his sacrificial love, and his open-handed generosity outright are MAGA Christians. They are the sole demographic on the planet who appear violently allergic to his life and work.So, as you watch the Right openly weeping, gnashing their teeth, and rending their garments at Pope Leo, remember that they don’t hate the messengers half as much as they hate the one who sent them.The compassionate, generous, inclusive Jesus of the Gospels is the one they are working so hard to eradicate.The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. 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