Religion is being weaponized — and some Christians are outraged.

This was one of the main takeaways from the Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain’s group chat with other Chicago faith leaders following President Donald Trump’s tirade against Pope Leo XIV.

Trump this week accused Leo of being “terrible for Foreign Policy” and “WEAK on crime” because of his opposition to the Iran war. The president also posted — then deleted — an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus.

In recent days, this clash has echoed throughout networks of Black faith leaders across the country. They’re wrestling with, organizing around, and responding to what Bates-Chamberlain, who hails from the South Side of Chicago and is the executive director of the religion-focused nonprofit Live Free Illinois, calls a “disheartening” and “scary” time for U.S. democracy. 

In Connecticut, the Rev. William Barber II gathered with other faith leaders and described Trump’s recent actions as “heresy”: “Assuming God-like authority, and again — and I keep repeating — it represents a war on divinity,” he said.

And U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, who’s also the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, said, “Trump has been using religion to divide us.”

Bates-Chamberlain said she is determined to use this moment to connect with faith communities and push people in a direction that she feels is righteous.

“Most people aren’t in support of war or kidnapping babies, so helping people to have real conversations — and not shy away from what they’re concerned about — is how we get some re-centering and balance,” Bates-Chamberlain told Capital B. “Not to go back to normal, because what was happening wasn’t good, but so that we’re not crashing and burning.”

As tensions between Trump and Leo have spilled into public view, Bates-Chamberlain explained more about a long, fraught history: the entanglement of religion, race, and power. This conversation with Capital B has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Capital B: When you see the Trump administration embracing divine authority in an effort to legitimize aggressive actions or suppress civil rights, do you think about similar behavior from other times in U.S. history?

The Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain: I even think about some of the justifications for slavery. This country used religion to justify slavery, to justify kidnapping and enslaving Black people. White supremacy has often allowed people to use religion as a justification for violence. “Obey them that have the rule over you” — using these scriptures to control. Don’t forget that the KKK promoted itself as a Christian organization, and it hasn’t been fully dismantled.

If we look at this moment in history, the administration is weaponizing religion to kidnap people. It’s weaponizing religion to brutalize people. Because we’ve been here before — because we’ve seen this story before — the faith community should be even more outspoken and intentional about not making the same mistakes again.

How are faith leaders organizing to counter this misuse of faith?

We’ve spent a lot of time putting out information and organizing coalitions so that leaders can return to their congregations and correct some of the rhetoric that’s been put out. For instance, in our Faith Over Fear coalition that I co-convene, our goal is to basically train the trainer. A lot of people are struggling because if they serve a congregation that’s politically “purple,” they want to know: How can I meet different people’s spiritual needs? There’s so much trauma and confusion from this administration, and people don’t know what to believe.

We’ve had to help people with messaging, with how they can tell a full and complete story. We have to debunk lies. These are people professing to be Christian, and we have to debunk literally everything that goes against the Gospels — we serve a God who believes in peace and love, but you have an administration pushing war and hate; a God who believes in truth, but an administration known for lies.

We also help people to have real conversations. Even traditional Republicans aren’t necessarily OK with this administration’s behavior, but there are two dividing issues — the pro-life issue and the LGBTQ community. We have to help people talk honestly about how policing people’s bodies is leading us to sacrifice the greater good.

What does it mean for a U.S.-born pope not to visit the U.S. — and how could that affect the relationship with the church?

I live in Dolton, where the pope grew up, but I don’t think that, from our lens, it’s really about whether he visits or not. I’m not Catholic, so I don’t feel any type of way about that.

What’s most important is that his message and political positions are very clear, that they affirm where we are in the movement. We need to make sure that our leaders are unapologetically on the side of righteousness. We need to hear that message. And I think that he’s been very clear about putting out a message of righteousness.

Any final thoughts on Trump’s attacks on Leo?

I was thinking about the back-and-forth between the pope and Trump in the media. It was interesting that Trump said that they [Leo and his allies] should stay out of politics or something like that. That’s interesting because this administration has pushed for churches to have more freedom around those political roles.

It’s as if it’s OK for church folks to be loud about supporting Trump, to say that he’s God-sent, but it’s not OK when the pope speaks out and says that these policies are atrocious, especially regarding war.

That kind of hypocrisy is confusing, and it’s another example of how Trump is trying to weaponize his power in faith communities. As long as it’s self-serving, he wants church folks to stand up — but the moment they’re not, he wants people to stay in their place. And that’s been scary for the church.