MAGA conservatives have branded Pope Leo XIV as a “woke pope” after he blessed a block of ice while taking aim at climate skeptics who failed to protect the environment.
Days after U.S. President Donald Trump described climate change as “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” the head of the Catholic Church issued a veiled rebuke by declaring that world leaders should “act with courage” on the issue.
“We can not love God, who we cannot see, while despising his creatures,” he told a climate change conference near Rome.
The Pope—who shared the stage with former Hollywood star turned California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger—also placed his hand on a large chunk of ice taken from a melting glacier in Greenland.
But after blessing the ice and taking aim at climate skeptics who “ridicule those who speak of global warming,” MAGA world erupted.
Conservative blogger Matt Walsh described Pope Leo’s actions as a “weird hippy ‘climate justice’ ritual.”
Alt-right activist Jack Posobiec posted a video of the blessing and questioned how it was helping Christians who feared “communists are shooting us and our children and burning down churches around the world.”
And across social media, there was no shortage of MAGA Republicans who lashed out at the Pope for being “woke.”
“Should have known the Catholic Church would put in another woke Pope,” wrote one Trump fan from South Carolina.
“When you pray for a ‘less woke pope’ and you get this,” wrote another woman, adding a “for f–-k’s sake” emoji.
The Chicago-born Pope Leo has strongly embraced the environmental legacy of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who died in April.
But this cuts in contrast to the comments Trump made at the United Nations General Assembly last week, when he declared climate change a “con job” and said that all global warming predictions had been made by “stupid people that have cost their countries fortunes.”
Earlier this week, Pope Leo also weighed in on U.S. politics by saying that the country’s treatment of immigrants was “inhuman”.
“Someone who says I’m against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” Pope Leo said.
“And someone who says I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, a Catholic, rejected this notion.
“This administration is trying to enforce our nation’s laws in the most humane way possible, and we are upholding the law,” she told reporters.
“We are doing that on behalf of the people of our country who live here.”
The Pope also threw his weight behind Democrat Senator Dick Durbin, who was given a lifetime achievement award by a Catholic institution—despite the Illinois lawmaker’s support for abortion rights.
Asked about this by a reporter this week, the Pope said he wasn’t “very familiar with the case,” but he said the award was a recognition of Durbin’s “overall work” during more than 40 years of service in Congress.
“I understand the difficulty and the tensions. But I think as I myself have spoken in the past, it’s important to consider many issues related to the teaching of the Church,” he replied.
Durbin said he was “overwhelmed” by the comments.
“It is amazing to me,” he told NBC. “It’s quite a moment. I didn’t expect it.”
