CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront had Fr. Mark Francis, CSV, Provincial, on the program to discuss President Donald Trump’s public criticisms of Pope Leo XIV and the president’s AI-generated image of himself as Jesus.
Fr. Mark appeared on her show on Tuesday, April 14, and Erin first asked Fr. Mark about the AI image posted to Truth Social. “I feel sorry for Donald Trump. It’s obvious that what he’s doing is trivializing the importance of religion. His depiction of himself as Jesus – who does that?” Fr. Mark said. “It speaks to a certain lack of equilibrium in his own mind. I’m pretty sure other people must have told him it’s highly offensive and blasphemous.”
She went on to discuss with Fr. Mark the public criticism that President Trump has lodged against Pope Leo XIV, and Fr. Mark highlighted Pope Leo’s background as American-born and a citizen of the world and his ministry as the spiritual leader of the Church.
“He knows the situation, and he knows that what the President of the United States says affects people,” Fr. Mark said. “[The pope’s] job is not to be a political pundit. His job is to speak to the world in terms of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When those values are violated and human suffering is obvious, the Pope becomes the voice of the people who are suffering. He feels he needs to say this to inspire other people to come into the picture and moderate things.”
“His depiction of himself as Jesus… who does that? It speaks to a certain lack of equilibrium in his own mind… other people must have told him this is highly offensive and blasphemous.”
— Erin Burnett OutFront (@OutFrontCNN) April 15, 2026
Pope Leo’s friend reacts to Trump’s posts and attacks against the Pope over the past three… pic.twitter.com/oZAf9sbOpC
Pope Leo XIV greeted Fr. Mark during a January audience, when Fr. Mark spoke with him for a few minutes and gifted him a special watercolor of CTU.
The Viatorians stand with Pope Leo XIV and his condemnations of war and violence, and we encourage Catholics and people of goodwill to follow his example, turn to resources for prayer and liturgy, and heed the call of our American bishops to pray and act for peace.
We encourage you to watch the full segment above, also available via @OutFrontCNN on X, and we thank Erin and CNN for inviting Fr. Mark again.
Fr. Mark and Pope Leo XIV were classmates at Catholic Theological Union in the late 1970s and early 1980s and then served mostly concurrent terms based in Rome as worldwide superiors of their congregations from 2000 to 2012. Fr. Mark had appeared on several news programs following Leo’s election, wrote a column for TIME, and was a guest on the Jesuitical podcast from America Media.