Some conservative commentators accused CBS’s “60 Minutes” of airing a segment featuring three “left-wing” cardinals who criticized the Trump administration’s immigration and Iran policies.
Father Gerald Murray and author Robert Royal joined Raymond Arroyo on “The Prayerful Posse” to discuss whether the situation was meant to spark a conflict between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV.
“The three of them are billed as so-called influential, but none of them hold offices in the U.S. Bishops’ Conference, and they have never been elected,” Royal said.
He compared the group to “The Squad” in U.S. politics, calling them “a very definite and pretty left-wing group of just three.”
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The “60 Minutes” episode featured three cardinals described in the segment as representing the church, though Royal argued they do not hold official leadership roles or speak for their peers.
During the episode, the cardinals criticized several Trump administration priorities, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the conflict in Iran. Cardinal Joseph Tobin said agents act in a way to “terrify people.”
Cardinal Robert McElroy also declared that under the Catholic faith, the fighting in Iran is “not a just war.”
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Father Murray countered those claims, pointing to reports that Iran was close to having enough enriched material for a nuclear weapon.
“I think it is a just war precisely because the nuclear threat from Iran is a proven danger to us,” Murray said. “It’s not an imaginary, ‘Maybe it’ll happen’ thing. If they have a nuclear weapon, they’re [going to] use it.”
Arroyo suggested the media framed the conflict to bait the White House into a dispute with the Vatican, which he labeled “pope-a-doping.”
“They were trying to get Trump to overreact, and he did,” Arroyo said.
After the “60 Minutes” episode aired, Trump and the pope publicly criticized each other.
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump doubled down with another social media post about the pope on Tuesday, urging people to “tell Pope Leo” about the Iranian regime’s killings of protesters earlier this year.
Speaking with reporters, Pope Leo said he does not fear the Trump administration or view himself as political.
“The message of the church, my message, the message of the Gospel: Blessed are the peacemakers. I do not look at my role as being political, a politician,” he added.
