Catholic walks out of Mass as priest compares Trump to Satan at DC church

CV NEWS FEED // A Catholic man left Sunday Mass for the first time in his life after a priest in Georgetown, a wealthy neighborhood in Washington, DC, used his homily to make a political comparison between President Donald Trump and Satan.

The controversy unfolded as the priest reflected on the Gospel reading for the first Sunday of Lent, which recounts Christ’s 40-day fast and temptation by the devil (Luke 4:1-13). According to Declan Ganley, an entrepreneur and Catholic commentator, the priest connected the biblical passage to a recent exchange between Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House.

Ganley expressed his frustration in a post on X.

“First time I left a Mass in my life,” he wrote. “Priest in Georgetown, D.C., delivering his homily and proceeds to use today’s Gospel of Satan’s temptation of Christ in the desert to Trump and Vance’s ‘taunting’ of Zelensky in the Oval Office. He delivers direct quotes from Trump. The comparison to Satan was not remotely veiled.”

Ganley’s post quickly gained traction, drawing over a million views and reigniting debates about politics in the pulpit. Ganley emphasized that while he respects Jesuits and their intellectual contributions, partisan rhetoric from the altar crosses a line.

“Honestly, I’m fine with leftie Jesuits,” he wrote. “They are necessary, and they have a charism. But raw, nasty partisan political speeches from the Altar that compare the President of the United States to Satan? Beyond the pale. Not going to bring people closer to salvation.”

Ganley did not name the church or the priest involved but revealed that he eventually attended Mass at Our Lady of Victory on McArthur Boulevard.

The Archdiocese of Washington has not issued an official response to the incident.

This episode comes amid a broader conversation on the intersection of faith and politics in the Catholic Church. Recent episcopal appointments, including the appointment of Cardinal Robert McElroy as the new Archbishop of Washington, DC, have drawn attention. McElroy, a vocal critic of Trump’s immigration policies, took over after Cardinal Wilton Gregory’s retirement earlier this year.