Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for sharing an AI-generated image of himself dressed as the pope, calling it offensive and insensitive following the recent death of Pope Francis.
“The following AI-generated photo was posted by the US President himself, a few days after he attended the funeral of Pope Francis and while the Catholic world is still mourning,” David said in a statement Saturday.
“With all due respect to his office and to the American people, we’d like him to know — it’s not funny.”
The image, posted on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, shows him seated in a papal throne wearing white vestments and a miter, with one finger raised in a gesture resembling a pope’s traditional pose.
David, who is also the bishop of Caloocan, condemned the post as disrespectful to the memory of Pope Francis, who died on April 21 at age 88 after 12 years as the head of the Catholic Church.
The funeral was held last week in Vatican City and attended by several world leaders, including Trump. The College of Cardinals will gather on May 7 to begin the conclave to choose the next pope.
