In a shocking move, US President Donald Trump has made a controversial statement regarding the next Pope. During a conversation about the future of the papacy, Trump expressed his thoughts on the matter.
His comments came after world leaders, including Prince William, Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron gathered at the Vatican’s St Peter’s Square on Saturday for Pope Francis‘ funeral.
Now, just days later, Trump has shared his views on who should succeed Pope Francis, who passed away on Easter Monday at the age of 88. Clips have surfaced on X, in which Trump can be heard saying: “I’d like to be Pope, that would be my number one choice!”
He followed this with a more serious suggestion, stating: “I have no preference. I must say, we have a cardinal that happens to be out of a place called New York who’s very good, so we’ll see what happens.”
The process of selecting a new Pope, known as a “conclave”, will begin once the nine-day mourning period for Pope Francis has ended. The Vatican has announced that the conclave will start on May 7, and will involve 135 cardinals from across the globe, all under the age of 80, participating in a series of secretive votes to choose Pope Francis’ successor.
However, even though Trump’s comments about becoming Pope might have been in jest, they certainly haven’t sat well with everyone. Americans rushed to social media to express their irritation at the wisecrack.
One person commented: “This one took me out.” While another remarked: “He’s insane.”
A third responded: “I’m okay with it on the condition that he goes to Italy and never comes back.” Meanwhile, a fourth also reacted with: “You are totally kidding me! Crazy person.”
Yet, there were those quick to defend Trump, highlighting that his statement was clearly a joke and that people were overreacting. One of his supporters exclaimed: “Love this man.”
Another interjected: “Breaking: You have no sense of humour.” Someone else chimed in with: “Wow – you guys have zero humour.”
An estimated 200,000 people assembled in St Peter’s Square on Saturday, hoping to catch sight of Pope Francis’ wooden coffin. He was laid to rest in the Basilica of St Mary Major.
The funeral included around 220 cardinals, 750 bishops and priests, with over 4,000 other clergymen gathered in the square.
The solemn proceedings were presided over by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
On Easter Monday, the announcement came that the 88-year-old Pope had died from a stroke. His burial followed several days designated for mourning the Argentinian Pope who is revered for his advocacy for the oppressed.
On Friday night, Pope Francis’s coffin was sealed in a private ceremony at the Vatican, following three days of public viewings. It is estimated that around 250,000 people paid their respects to the Pope as he lay in state.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.
