It’s almost been one whole month since Pope Leo XIV was elected as the new Bishop of Rome and the 69-year-old pontiff has already garnered attention for multiple reasons.
From being the first ever American pope and speaking in English during mass to showing off his basebell-level catching skills during a recent parade, Pope Francis’ successor has already had some iconic moments.
And now, people think he is purposefully trolling Donald Trump with his latest move.
Pope Leo is set to hold a mass in Chicago on June 14 to ‘offer a special video message to the young people of the world,’ ABC7 Chicago reported on Thursday.
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Marking the Pope’s first public greeting to the city since his election, it’s bound to draw a huge crowd. It will be led by Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, and premiere the Pope's video message.
On top of that, the event is set to take place at Rate Field, which is the home of the Chicago White Sox, the baseball team the Pope openly supports.
The day has been described as a 'once-in-a-lifetime celebration of the election of the first Chicago-born Pope' and is being organised by the Archdiocese of Chicago
But there’s one issue - the celebration is conveniently set to take place on the American president’s birthday.
While the Pope’s event is going on, over in Washington, D.C., a multi-million dollar parade will be kicking off.
While it’s not technically for Trump’s 79th birthday, but instead to celebrate the country’s military, it does fall on the same day.
According to Reuters, the eye-watering cost for the bash is around the $45 million mark.
The White House said in a statement that the parade, while being on Trump’s big day, is to celebrate the ‘greatest military in the world’.
The statement read: “There is no event grand enough to adequately capture our gratitude for the millions of heroes who laid down their lives defending our freedom, but this parade will be a fitting tribute to the service, sacrifice, and selflessness of all who have worn the uniform."
But, with both huge events penciled in for the same day, a social media discourse has sparked on whether it was deliberate.
One user made the bold claim that the Pope could be trying to ‘embarrass Trump,’ writing on X: “Is the Pope trying to embarrass?
“Pope Leo will be celebrating a mass in Chicago on the same day as Trump’s birthday military parade.”
They added: “The Chicago crowd is estimated to top 1 million people... far larger than the expectations for the parade. Your thoughts?”
Another wrote: “Pope Leo will be addressing the youth virtually while organising a huge Mass in Chicago.. on Trump’s birthday, right during the parade.”
And a third added: “Pope Leo scheduled his Chicago appearance for the exact same time as Trump’s military parade. That’s some top-tier trolling.”
Others simply wrote: “What a timing!” and “The pope is so good with these kinds of special trolling.”
Meanwhile, someone else pointed out that the Pope didn’t actually decide the date himself for the Chicago event.
They reasoned: “Surely someone has already corrected you. But Pope Leo has nothing to do with this. It was planned by Chicago and he is only giving a video message.”
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Pope Leo
Madison Burgess