ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
This week, a simmering feud between President Trump and Pope Leo escalated sharply. The president criticized the pontiff's lack of support for the war in Iran, saying on social media that the Pope was, quote, "terrible on foreign policy." And the Pope, on a foreign nation trip to Africa, where he's been calling for peace, dialogue and justice, said this.
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POPE LEO XIV: Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say, there's a better way than this.
SCHMITZ: The war of words had conservative media figures wrangling for several days and left some wondering whether it could be politically damaging for vulnerable Republican candidates running in the midterms. Today, the pope downplayed the discord, saying it wasn't in his interest to debate Trump. The tensions, though, have left many American Catholics in an awkward spot. Texas Public Radio's Jack Morgan went to one of the country's oldest cathedrals to find out more.
JACK MORGAN, BYLINE: San Antonio has one of the oldest Catholic churches in the nation. Outside the San Fernando Cathedral, we listen to what San Antonians believe.
JOHN YOUNG: I'm not terribly religious myself. I am a Roman Catholic.
MORGAN: Attorney John Young has strong opinions about the key players.
YOUNG: I'm somewhat colored by the fact that our president has made dumb comments many, many times. Illogical, self-contradictory - all of those things.
MORGAN: His opinion on the Pope, though...
YOUNG: The Pope being the Pope - you know, he has kind of clear moral authority to make comments on how other world leaders behave.
MORGAN: George Terrell respects both the president and the Pope.
GEORGE TERRELL: We're all brothers and sisters in Christ, and we need to come together and resolve this and work together.
MORGAN: Asked what do people need to do about this, he had one suggestion.
TERRELL: With a prayer. I think that's all we can do at this point, is prayer.
MORGAN: Navigating around a nearby construction site, TJ Mayes is visiting the church. He's a former Presbyterian, and he and his formerly Baptist wife are actually converting to Catholicism.
TJ MAYES: We as a family are deciding what our faith journey is going to look like. We went to Rome over the Christmas break and was very inspired by that.
MORGAN: Mayes was quite aware of the limitations of any given leader, but he hopes President Trump begins to think in more humanitarian terms.
MAYES: I think the Pope is trying to appeal to us, to appeal to our own better angels, and religion is aspirational and is not as bound by the practical realities of politics.
MORGAN: Daniel Cedillo has a very direct way of putting things.
DANIEL CEDILLO: When you annihilate people, that's violating human rights.
MORGAN: He's clearly not a supporter of the war.
CEDILLO: That's a huge humanitarian issue, and that's the business of the church. President Trump should listen to those kind of moral issues because he's gonna be accountable for that.
MORGAN: Asked if being accountable for votes or salvation...
CEDILLO: He's accountable to God, above everything else.
MORGAN: For NPR, this is Jack Morgan in San Antonio. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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