{"id":97,"date":"2026-05-20T15:37:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=97"},"modified":"2026-05-20T15:37:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:37:33","slug":"catholic-theologian-conservatives-are-not-comfortable-with-trumps-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=97","title":{"rendered":"Catholic theologian: ‘Conservatives are not comfortable with Trump\u2019s faith’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Catholic theologian Chad Pecknold is among those questioning the legitimacy of President Donald Trump’s Christianity. <\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Lackluster\u2019 ticket sales plague World Cup event<\/a><\/p>\n

Columnist Christopher Hale recalled Pecknold’s CNBC interview, in which Trump claimed to be a Presbyterian. However, he implied that Trump doesn’t appear to know much about his own religion, or Christianity in general. <\/p>\n

Pecknold asked whether Trump understood the differences between Presbyterians and Methodists, or even Presbyterians and Catholics.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cConservatives are not comfortable with his faith. They\u2019re not convinced at all that he\u2019s a genuine person of Christian faith.”<\/p>\n

Trump “talks about the eucharist as a little wine and a bit of cracker,” said Pecknold. “He doesn’t know how Christians speak about the Bible… It’s legitimate to ask what kind of Christian is he?”<\/p>\n

It’s all part of the acceleration in the feud between Trump and the Pope, <\/p>\n

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was dispatched to the Vatican in an effort to smooth over weeks of diplomatic missteps by Trump\u2019s administration in its dealings with Pope Leo.<\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s recent string of flubs began when Trump took personal offense at the pope\u2019s call for global peace. They escalated after a tense clash with a Vatican official at the Defense Department. Now it has triggered a firestorm of bad press and deepened Trump\u2019s political troubles as conservative opposition grows.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump heading for a brutal humiliation on Wall Street: Nobel economist<\/a><\/p>\n

The situation worsened when Trump publicly teased a Cuba as the \u201cnext\u201d target after Iran, only to meet firm resistance from the pope, who refused to endorse an attack on the heavily Catholic island. The Vatican\u2019s readout of Rubio\u2019s meeting explicitly cited disagreements with the United States, especially over Cuba, and Catholic commentators have made clear that the Holy See will not bless what they call Trump\u2019s \u201cwar to \u2018Take Cuba,\u2019\u201d including campaigns that weaponize humanitarian aid or impose sanctions that hurt poor Cubans.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Trump’s administration is expected to announce charges against Ra\u00fal Castro, the deputy of the National Assembly of the People’s Power of Cuba and the brother of Fidel Castro. It’s setting off alarm bells because the process is similar to Trump’s efforts to arrest Venezuelan politician Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. <\/p>\n

Hale wrote that if Pope Leo wasn’t clear enough in person, his emissaries said the Vatican would not support a war, particularly against the poor people of Cuba. <\/p>\n

Trump bragged in March that he would soon have \u201cthe honor of taking Cuba.\u201d Last week, he implied that Cuba is on his invasion list and he may not be able to wait to go after Cuba, though Republicans likely want to wait until after the midterm elections in November. <\/p>\n

“During his homily, Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny made it clear the Vatican will not bless the Trump administration’s campaign to ‘Take Cuba’ \u2014 no humanitarian aid as a tool of regime change, no sanctions that punish the poor,” wrote Hale. <\/p>\n

The event where Czerny spoke was hosted by the Cuban embassy.<\/p>\n

Czerny told them, \u201cPope Leo XIV, in his recent appeals to the international community, has reminded us that no stable order can arise from the force of arms or from pressure that humiliates peoples; human development, on the other hand, grows through dialogue, international law, cooperation between nations and the safeguarding of the dignity of every human being. In the same spirit, humanitarian aid should arrive in sufficient quantities and without hindrance and must never be exploited for political or geopolitical ends.”<\/p>\n

Read more Georgia GOP\u2019s \u2018old guard\u2019 becoming extinct as MAGA takeover nears completion<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Catholic theologian Chad Pecknold on Donald Trump:<\/p>\n

\u201cConservatives are not comfortable with his faith. They\u2019re not convinced at all that he\u2019s a genuine person of Christian faith.\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/7ii1RrpyKE pic.twitter.com\/0lLWqZN4Q8
\u2014 Christopher Hale (@ChristopherHale) May 19, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Catholic theologian Chad Pecknold is among those questioning the legitimacy of President Donald Trump’s Christianity. Columnist Christopher Hale recalled Pecknold’s CNBC interview, in which Trump claimed to be a Presbyterian. 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