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In the 2024 presidential election, President Trump carried the Catholic vote by a 12-point margin. That's according to a report by the Pew Research Center. He also secured more votes than he did in 2020 among voters who attend religious services. To find out how these voters are thinking now, after a recent dispute between the president and Pope Leo, we headed to a Sunday Mass in Bucks County, Pennsylvania - a crucial swing state. Carmen Russell-Sluchansky of member station WHYY reports.
CARMEN RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY, BYLINE: It's Sunday Mass at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Levittown, Pennsylvania. Parishioners here are following the reports of a dispute between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV.
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RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: After the pontiff criticized U.S. attacks on Iran, Trump called the pope weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy - a rare public clash between a U.S. president and the Vatican. Some here, like Mike Bolli, say they are disappointed by Trump's criticisms of the pope.
MIKE BOLLI: I think it's very inappropriate for him to talk to the pope like that. I mean, come on. Have some respect.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Bolli voted for Trump in 2016, but says he soon became disappointed with the president and voted for Democrats in the last two elections.
BOLLI: He never says anything positive. It's always something negative.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: His fellow parishioner Bob Gabriel voted for Trump in 2024 and thinks Pope Leo was the one out of line.
BOB GABRIEL: I respect the pope and all, but some of his political comments, I don't think, are thought out completely.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Gabriel, who has been attending St. Michael since 1969, says he still supports the president and the decision to bomb Iran.
GABRIEL: I think President Trump is doing what he has to do to keep us safe. The ones over there with the nuclear bombs - if they have them, we're all in trouble.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: St. Michael's is in Bucks County, currently represented by a practicing Catholic, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick is one of the most vulnerable Republican members of Congress going into the 2026 midterms. He often walks a tightrope between supporting the president's platform and vocally pushing back at times. Fitzpatrick's office did not respond to requests for comment, but last week he released a statement saying that he condemned the president's comments, calling them a sacrilegious insult. Kelsey Reinhardt, president of CatholicVote, a conservative political action group, understands that's how a lot of her community is feeling.
KELSEY REINHARDT: Donald Trump has done enormous things for Catholics and religious liberty in this country, but picking a fight with the spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Catholics in those terms was surprising, shocking, disappointing.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Reinhardt urged Catholics to reject the idea they have to choose sides. Her group endorsed Trump two years ago. Now she thinks it's too soon to know if this spat will lead to a shift in political support.
REINHARDT: Are Catholics going to remain in the coalition? That's a question of policies often, not just personality, and I think that that's one that remains to be seen right now.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: But back at St. Michael's, Cassandra Thornton says she's becoming disillusioned with Republicans because of Trump's attacks.
CASSANDRA THORNTON: I think he crossed the line. I voted for him in 2024, and I was like, oh, you know, I think he's going to make a good difference, you know? But after when I saw that, I just kind of lost all respect to what he was kind of preaching for for America. It kind of went the wrong way. It went south.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: She says the president's recent comments may affect how she'll vote in the congressional election in November but also acknowledged it's still too early to decide. It may be with people like Thornton in mind that Trump is expected to participate in a Bible reading on Tuesday, with the midterms still months away. Carmen Russell-Sluchansky for NPR News in Levittown, Pennsylvania.
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