CBCP head on Trump’s pope tweet: ‘Not funny’

Photo screengrabbed from Cardinal David’s Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David denounced the artificial intelligence (AI)-generated photo shared by US President Donald Trump that portrayed him as the pope.

“The following AI-generated photo was posted by the US president himself, a few days after he attended the funeral of Pope Francis and while the Catholic world is still mourning. With all due respect to his office and to the American people, we’d like him to know it’s not funny,” said David, Kalookan bishop and president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

The Catholic Church concluded on Sunday its nine days of mourning after Pope Francis was laid to rest on April 26. But speculations on who will be the next leader of the Catholic Church have grown louder ahead of the conclave set to begin on Wednesday.

READ: Betting on next pope gains popularity ahead of the conclave

Poor taste

David, who will take part in that assembly, again reminded the faithful that “The conclave is a sacred moment, guided not by popularity or strategy, but by prayer, humility, and the collective listening of the Church’s shepherds to God’s will.”

In the United States, the New York State Catholic Conference said: “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 image featuring Trump in a white cassock and pointed miter, or bishop’s hat, was reposted by the White House from his Truth Social site.

It was the topic of several questions during the Vatican’s conclave briefing on Saturday, while Italian and Spanish news reports lamented its poor taste. —With a report from AP