Saying he has been disillusioned for some time, Fox News host Sean Hannity has announced he is leaving the Catholic Church.
"As of today, I no longer consider myself a Catholic," he said on the Thursday, April 16, episode of his primetime show. "While I am a Christian, I left the Catholic Church in large part because of institutionalized corruption, and it was at the parish level, to the bishop level, cardinals, all the way to Rome."
He took time to note that his parents were devout Catholics and credited that "positive force" for making him "a better person."
But without naming specific situations, Hannity criticized the scandals and "terrible behaviors" in the Catholic Church while accusing individuals at the Vatican of totally losing the true meaning of the Bible and its teachings.
Pope Leo XIV's recent comments on America's war with Iran appear to be the straw that broke the camel's back.
"Pope Leo XIV is now seemingly more interested in spreading left-wing politics than at the actual teachings of Jesus Christ," Hannity stated.
He especially takes issue with the pope's April 10 post on X that reads, "God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples."
"That is simply not biblically accurate," the Fox News host asserted. "The Bible contains over 400 references to war, frequently depicting God as authorizing, commanding, intervening in battles."
The growing public dispute between the pope and President Donald Trump has sparked interest in Pope Leo's social media history before he was elected pontiff. Hannity says it is full of woke, anti-American rhetoric.
He suggests the pope is now "twisting religion to specifically attack only President Trump and the U.S." because "he's a run-of-the-mill, Trump-hating Democrat that lacks moral clarity about radical Islam."
