Will Pope Leo Stand Up to Christian Nationalism?

Across continents, movements that differ in creed converge in disposition. They sacralize exclusion, distrust pluralism, and cast political opposition as moral decay. In the United States, Christian nationalism presents itself as the defense of a persecuted majority. In Europe, Viktor Orban casts what he calls “ illiberal democracy ” as Christian civilization under siege. In South Asia, Hindu nationalism translates majority anxiety into divine mandate. In each case, the language of holiness serves power: If the nation is sacred, dissent becomes blasphemy.

When MAGA strategist Steve Bannon told the Economist that Donald Trump was “ a vehicle of divine providence ” and “an instrument of divine will,” he was not being rhetorical. He was articulating a political theology: the claim that a leader, if chosen by God, stands above human law and temporal limits. That idea—once (and still) the claim of monarchs—has reentered modern politics. What a decade ago seemed to be a scatter of populist insurgencies now looks like a global movement bound by shared metaphysics of grievance and destiny.

When MAGA strategist Steve Bannon told the Economist that Donald Trump was “a vehicle of divine providence” and “an instrument of divine will,” he was not being rhetorical. He was articulating a political theology: the claim that a leader, if chosen by God, stands above human law and temporal limits. That idea—once (and still) the claim of monarchs—has reentered modern politics.