Trump’s AI pope image ‘wasn’t good,’ according to the New York Cardinal

May 4, Rome U.S. Cardinal Timothy Dolan stated on Sunday that President Donald Trump’s sharing of an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated image of himself as pope “wasn’t good,” but he wouldn’t say if the White House ought to issue an apology to the Catholics who were upset.

Ahead of Wednesday’s opening of a conclave in which he and other cardinals under 80 will choose a successor to Pope Francis, Dolan, the archbishop of New York, was questioned about the position during a Mass he conducted at a church in Rome.

Less than a week after attending Pope Francis’ funeral last month, Trump—who is not Catholic and does not usually attend church—posted the photo on his Truth Social platform late Friday. It was subsequently uploaded on the White House’s official X account. Before the Mass, Dolan responded to a reporter’s inquiry by saying, “It wasn’t good,” and adding, “I hope he didn’t have anything to do with that.”

To a reporter who inquired about his feelings of offense, Dolan responded, “Well, you know, it wasn’t good.” He continued by saying it was a “brutta figura” in Italian, which is a slang term for when someone does something that makes them look awful or embarrassed. When asked in Italian whether the post should be removed and whether Trump or the White House should apologize after the Mass, Dolan responded, “Who knows?” He refused to elaborate on it more.

“AVOID MAKING FUN OF US.” Trump made a joke about wanting to be the future pope with reporters last week. “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,” he said, implying that Dolan may be a fine choice. Dolan, a conservative who was appointed a cardinal by Pope Benedict in 2012, gave one of the invocations during Trump’s January inauguration.

Trump is shown in the Friday AI image sitting in an elaborate chair, wearing white papal garb and a headpiece, with his right forefinger up. He is not smiling. The Catholic bishops of New York State publicly expressed their disapproval of the disrespectful post on X, sparking immediate outcry on social media. “There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President,” they said. “We recently laid to rest Pope Francis, and the cardinals will soon convene in a solemn conclave to choose St. Peter’s successor.

Don’t make fun of us. On Sunday, the image made the front pages of numerous Italian publications, most of which expressed shock or condemned it. According to several right-wing newspapers, it should be interpreted as a joke.

On Sunday, there was a division between pilgrims and visitors in St. Peter’s Square. Was that actually posted by him? Did he post that? “It’s kind of crazy, but yeah, all right,” Brazilian Marcella Peixoto said. “I think he’s a funny guy, I think he’s trying to be funny and comedy is being lost in the world,” stated John Smith, a Californian American. Everyone should lighten up and smile as you’re smiling right now, in my opinion.