Marjorie Taylor Greene says Catholic bishops are being 'controlled by Satan' ahead of Vatican conclave

WASHINGTON, DC: Just hours after the Vatican confirmed the death of Pope Francis, Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene went on a scorched-earth tirade against the Catholic Church's leadership, accusing its bishops of being “controlled by Satan.”

“Today, there were major shifts in global leaderships,” Greene posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Evil is being defeated by the hand of God.”

That post — which came while the Church was still in mourning — didn’t sit well with the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. The group immediately called for her censure, OK! Magazine reported.

But the Georgia firebrand and Trump loyalist doubled down on social media on Wednesday, April 30. She raged against Catholic League President William Donohue for sending a letter about her to the House Ethics Committee — and then demanded an apology.

According to Greene, she walked away from the Church long ago. “I stopped attending mass when I became a mother,” she said in a statement, insisting that it was because she realized she "could not trust the Church leadership to protect my children from pedophiles.”

To clarify her earlier post, Greene added, “It’s the church leadership I was referring to when I invoked the Devil. Just so we’re clear, bishops, when I said ‘controlled by Satan,’ I wasn’t talking about the Catholic Church. I was talking about you.”

This isn't MTG's first feud with the Catholic Church

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s beef with the Catholic Church has been simmering for a while.

Back in 2022, she suggested during an eyebrow-raising interview that the Church’s charitable efforts to help migrants were a sign of “Satan controlling the church.” That stirred massive backlash from Catholic leaders and advocacy groups.

Now with Pope Francis gone, tensions between Greene and the Church’s hierarchy have reignited in a big way.

Meanwhile, Vatican officials are keeping their focus on the future. Catholic cardinals announced that the papal conclave — the sacred, closed-door vote to elect the next pope — will begin on May 7.

The cardinals picked the date to give themselves time to bond and figure out which candidate is most likely to unite the global Church.

Donald Trump for pope?

While Marjorie Taylor Greene was waging spiritual war online, President Donald Trump was busy cracking jokes.

“I’d like to be pope,” he told reporters outside the White House. “That would be my number one choice.”

While that joke made the press corps chuckle, Trump later clarified he doesn’t actually have a favorite for who should replace Francis — albeit he did give a nod to someone closer to home.

“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 added, seemingly referring to Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

Reuters, however, dashed that fantasy when they reported that Dolan isn’t even on the shortlist of candidates in the running.

Lindsey Graham is onboard with the idea of Pope Trump

Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC) seemed to take Donald Trump’s pope fantasy in stride and ran with it.

“I was excited to hear that President Trump is open to the idea of being the next pope,” Graham posted on X. “This would truly be a dark horse candidate, but I would ask the papal conclave and Catholic faithful to keep an open mind about this possibility!”

Graham hyped up the idea of the “first Pope–US President combination,” adding, “Watching for white smoke…”

He concluded his post with, “Trump MMXXVIII!” — the Roman numerals for 2028.

Meanwhile, the actual process for choosing the next pope remains a highly private event. Starting May 7, 135 cardinals will gather behind locked doors in the Sistine Chapel to cast their votes in the papal conclave.

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