President Donald Trump’s attempt to strong-arm Pope Leo XIV via a Truth Social diatribe echoes a pattern seen across global history. Emperors, monarchs and despots have long threatened popes — and often failed — to bend them to their will. In an American context, however, Trump’s invective does represent a historic reversal. For most of this country’s history, Americans viewed the pope as a war-mongering, money-grubbing, anti-democratic menace who harbored imperial designs on the White House. Today, that menace is in the White House, and the pope is the one defending American ideals of liberty and human dignity. It’s especially ironic that the current pontiff is a U.S. citizen — and that his namesake, Pope Leo XIII (who was pontiff from 1878-1903), was the reigning pope during a particularly high point of anti-papal and anti-Catholic sentiment in America.
If you had entered “American pope” into a Google Image search before May 8, 2025, one of the top hits would have been a cartoon under that title that appeared in 1894. Published in Puck Magazine, a widely circulated satirical magazine of the late 19th century, it featured a rendering of Archbishop Francesco Satolli, who had been designated the first official Vatican representative to the United States a year before. Satolli’s appointment heartened U.S. Catholics, who yearned for a closer connection between their country and their church. But it horrified many U.S. Protestants, who believed any such alliance would undermine Americans’ commitment to democracy and religious freedom. The Puck cartoon illustrated those fears. Perched on top of a giant dome that resembled St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome but was branded “American headquarters,” Satolli cast a dark shadow over a crudely drawn U.S. map.
Instead of matching Satolli’s own countenance, the shadow evoked that of Leo XIII. Readers of Puck would have instantly recognized the caricature of Leo, who had often been depicted in its pages pursuing his two favorite endeavors: stealing money and stealing U.S. elections. “At it Again,” declared a November 1885 cartoon that pictured Leo inside a ballot box, stretching out his arms to tear down the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the establishment of a national religion.
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With thanks to National Catholic Reporter and Kathleen Sprows Cummings, where this article originally appeared.
