AI image of Trump as pope was 'not good,' cardinal tells reporters in Rome

ROME (CNS) — An AI-generated image of U.S. President Donald Trump dressed as the pope “was not good,” Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York said in Rome.

“I hope he didn’t have anything to do with that,” he told reporters before he entered Our Lady of Guadalupe Church where he celebrated Mass May 4.

The picture, featuring Trump wearing a white cassock and miter traditionally worn by a pope, was first shared on the president’s @realDonaldTrump account on TruthSocial.com and then shared by official White House social media accounts May 3. Trump had also told a reporter April 29, “I’d like to be pope.”

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, April 30, 2025. (OSV News photo/Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters)

Cardinal Dolan was asked if he was offended by the image. “Well, you know, it wasn’t good. The Italians say, ‘brutta figura,'” he said, meaning, it made a “bad impression.”

The cardinal was celebrating Mass at his “titular” parish. When prelates are made cardinals, they are assigned a “titular” church in Rome, which makes them members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome.

The small church in the hilltop district of Monte Mario was full of parishioners, visitors and the press.

Msgr. Gianfranco Mammoli, the parish priest, thanked the cardinal for his visit and noted the importance of the day’s Gospel reading (John 21:1-19) as the world’s cardinals were gathered in Rome to choose the next pope.

Jesus did not give Simon Peter clear directions on how to build or lead his church after his death and resurrection, Msgr. Mammoli said in his introductory remarks. All that Jesus said, was “Do you love me?”

In a few days, Cardinal Dolan and others will have the task of choosing the successor of Peter — the leader of the universal church and the bishop of Rome, the monsignor said.

“Someone will be chosen, not because he is prepared,” but because he loves Jesus with all his heart and will answer his call to follow Jesus and feed his sheep, he said.

In his homily, given in Italian, Cardinal Dolan asked everyone to pray for him and all the cardinals as they prepare to begin the conclave May 7 to choose the next pope. “I need the light of the Holy Spirit.”

The cardinal focused his homily on the Gospel reading and how Jesus gathers his disciples to share a meal.

Every Sunday Mass is the people of God — the Lord’s disciples — coming together to share a meal with the Lord, he said. It is a spiritual “meal” shared as a family with the Holy Mother Church.

JUST IN: President Trump posts a picture of himself as the Pope pic.twitter.com/9ZneYwUAPv

— Red Cardinal News (@redcardinalnews) May 3, 2025

Remarking that “Pope Francis loved to say and often would say to us priests” to keep homilies short, the cardinal said, “OK, that’s it!” keeping his talk to under five minutes.

As the congregation laughed, Cardinal Dolan asked if their priest keeps his homilies brief, to which they said, “Yes!”

The cardinal processed to the back of the church and stood outside the front door so he could greet and chat with all the parishioners as they filed out. He answered questions, reminded people to pray for him, posed for selfies and invited people to come to New York City and visit him at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Meeting again with reporters after the Mass, he emphasized the importance of prayer, saying Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, told the cardinals to “make sure you ask the people to pray for us because we need it very, very much.”

He said the cardinals are “still getting to know one another,” and it helps that this is his second conclave.

When he participated as a 63-year-old, recently-elevated cardinal in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis, he said he was “so nervous” and wasn’t sure what to do.

“But now I feel kind of seasoned, a little more relaxed,” he said.

“Will there be a Francis II,” he was asked. “Let’s hope so” because it is needed, he said.

When asked what characteristics he would like to see in the next pope, he said it was important the pope always smile and be simple, humble and good.

It would be nice to blend all the best characteristics of the last three popes, he said, including Pope Benedict XVI’s “intense intellect” and St. John Paul II’s “courage and his call to follow Jesus.”

“I’m praying to St. Anthony” to find the one, he said.

Asked if he had already made a choice, he said he still had to think about it.

“But you only have two more days,” a reporter said.

“That will be enough, don’t you think?” he replied.