Catholic community reacts to Trump's AI image of himself as the pope

An AI-generated image of President Donald Trump dressed as the pope is drawing criticism from some Catholics after it was posted on social media just days before the papal conclave to select the next pontiff begins in Rome.

The image, which was shared on Trump's social media and the official White House account on Friday evening, shows an AI-generated image of the president wearing papal clothes and sitting on a throne.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, was asked by reporters about the image after he had finished a service at a church in Rome on Sunday. In his response, Dolan used the Italian words, "brutta figura," meaning the post was embarrassing.

"I hope he didn't have anything to do with it," Dolan said. "It wasn't good. As Italians say, it was brutta figura."

The New York State Catholic Conference also voiced outrage at the image, saying, "There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President."

"We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St. Peter. Do not mock us," the conference said on X on Saturday.

Trump said on Monday that it was a joke, and claimed no Catholics were offended.

"They can't take a joke? You don't mean the Catholics, you mean the fake news media? No, the Catholics loved it," Trump said. "I had nothing to do with it. Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the pope and they put it out on the internet. That's not me that did it. I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI, but I know nothing about it. I just saw it last evening. Actually, my wife thought it was cute. She said, 'Isn't that nice?'"

He added, "Actually, I would not be able to be married, though. That would be a lot. ... To the best of my knowledge, popes aren't big on getting married, are they? Not that we know of."

Father James Martin, a papal contributor for ABC, said on "This Week" Sunday, "People were surprised by it and thought it was incredibly poor taste, but over here in Rome more people are concerned about the next pope than the current president."

Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, denied the post was offensive. When conservative commentator Bill Kristol wrote on X, "Hey, @JDVance, you fine with this disrespect and mocking of the Holy Father?" the vice president replied, "As a general rule, I'm fine with people telling jokes and not fine with people starting stupid wars that kill thousands of my countrymen."

When asked to respond to the criticism, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump "flew to Italy to pay his respects for Pope Francis and attend his funeral, and he has been a staunch champion for Catholics and religious liberty," according to The Associated Press.

The process to elect the next pope will begin on Wednesday, according to the Vatican.

ABC News' Camilla Alcini contributed to this report.