One of the nation’s premier Catholic universities has taken the side of the pope in President Donald Trump’s latest global beef.
The University of Notre Dame released a statement penned by the 183-year-old institution’s president, Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., on Monday, following Trump’s outrageous tirades against the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Leo.
“Pope Leo XIV continues to proclaim the Gospel of Christ by upholding human dignity and serving as a tireless advocate for peace,” Rev. Dowd’s statement, shared on X by the university, read. “His message transcends partisan political divisions in this or any country and I’m deeply grateful for Pope Leo’s inspiring example.”
“I ask members of the Notre Dame community to pray for peace and work together with all people of goodwill to build a more just and humane world.”
Reached for comment about Dowd’s statement, the White House referred the Daily Beast to “the president’s comments” on the matter, though he does not appear to have directly addressed the college’s snub.
Reached for additional comment, a University of Notre Dame spokesperson told the Daily Beast that “Father Dowd’s statement stands on its own.”
The historic college, located in Notre Dame, Indiana, is consistently ranked among the top Catholic universities in the United States, alongside Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Trump, 79, began his verbal assault against the first-ever American pope, who was elected last year, in a Truth Social post on Sunday, following the pontiff’s criticism of the Trump administration’s war on Iran.
The president called the peace-promoting pope “weak on crime, and terrible for foreign policy,” and said that he doesn’t “want a pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
“I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA,” Trump said in his rambling rant.
Pope Leo responded directly to Trump’s attacks, telling reporters overseas that “I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do.”
Asked whether he would apologize to the pope, Trump told reporters on Monday: “No.”
Hours after he lashed out at the pope on Sunday night, Trump posted a bizarre AI-generated photo depicting himself as Jesus Christ—an image that drew immediate backlash from even the president’s most diehard Catholic supporters.
“This is gross blasphemy,” wrote 19-year-old MAGA influencer Brilyn Hollyhand in a post on X. “Faith is not a prop.”
Conservative commentator and former competitive swimmer Riley Gaines chimed in as well, saying: “Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this? Either way, two things are true. 1) a little humility would serve him well 2) God shall not be mocked.”
The president deleted the post and tried to defend his actions on Monday, telling reporters at the White House that he thought the photo was depicting him as a doctor.
“It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better,” Trump said, though the image showed the president with glowing hands and wearing a Christ-like robe.
“Only the fake news could come up with that one (the depiction of Jesus),” he added. “I just heard about it, and said: ‘How did they come up with that?’”
