Megan Basham

Yeah, Georgia, and a lot of that tension was already in place before this particular flare-up over the war in Iran centering on the issue of immigration.

We know that the Pope, for instance, has called the president's policies on immigration inhumane.

He has suggested that those who support immigration

The president's deportation efforts can't credibly claim to be pro-life.

So as you might imagine, Trump wasn't shy about responding to that.

In fact, he referenced this dispute over law and order when he was asked about the pope yesterday.

So that backdrop was already in place when the Pope a few days ago began speaking out more strongly about the war in Iran, including urging voters to contact their representatives.

Then on Friday, he said this, God does not bless any conflict.

Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.

Well, immediately, many Trump supporters pointed out that not only does the Bible, specifically in several places, allow for war, famously in the book of Ecclesiastes, saying there is a time for war, but also the Pope's own father stormed the beaches of Normandy.

So we have to remember, I think, that Leo is an American, and he's from Chicago, and he's publicly engaging in American politics.

president by name.

So he's not just making general statements of principle.

And I think that is a setup for some of these dramatic tensions that we're talking about.

Yeah, they've been coming very fast and furious, so it's a little hard to keep track.

But toward the end of last week, we had the Avignon papacy controversy.

It started when the free press ran a story claiming that the Pentagon's officials threatened a Vatican envoy, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, with a new Avignon papacy.

Now, if you're not familiar with that, that's a reference to a 14th century pope

who was controlled by the French monarchy.

So essentially, this report was claiming that the Trump administration was threatening the papacy, threatening either to replace it or control it in some way.