Pope Leo XIV has appointed three new bishops who have previously criticised the Trump administration, as public tensions between the Vatican and the White House continue. The appointments come amid an apparent feud over issues including immigration, diversity programmes and foreign policy.
The new bishops are Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, who will serve in West Virginia, and Robert Boxie III and Gary Studniewski, appointed as auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Washington. All three have publicly criticised President Donald Trump or his supporters.
Menjivar-Ayala, a former undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, wrote an op-ed last year criticising the Trump administration’s “shock and awe” immigration enforcement. Boxie condemned attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, calling them “of God”. Studniewski described the January 6 Capitol riot as “very disturbing, very disheartening”.
Pope Leo has previously criticised Trump’s war with Iran and described his threat to annihilate Iranian civilisation as “truly unacceptable”. Trump has called the Pope “weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy”, while Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, said the Pope should be “careful” when discussing theology.
Despite the tensions, both sides have sought to downplay the rift. Pope Leo said on April 18 it was “not in my interest at all” to debate Trump and suggested the narrative had “not been accurate in all of its aspects”. Vance expressed gratitude, saying the Pope preaches the gospel and the administration applies moral principles in a “messy world”.
