The last 10-12 years, the "Frump" or "Trancis" era, has been for our nation and Church a dystopian nightmare of leadership. The President and (ex) Pope are often set against each other as global, ideological opponents. This is a category error, a big mistake, triggered by the Pope swerving out of his lane into politics, policy and ideology. It is endemic to progressivism which sacralizes politics and politicizes religion. This narrative sets the celebrity populists against each other, the poor-loving, leftwing internationalist against the money-loving, rightwing nationalist on borders, environment, capital punishment and other.
They are in fact, mimetic rivals, despite the distinct arenas, because they mirror each other in the underlying structure of their personality and leadership. We could hardly imagine Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Mike Tyson competing in the ring, court or course; but as popular celebrities that is imaginable.
Let us consider the "Frump" (or alternately "Trancis") Syndrome. The following will be offensive to supporters of both: to love one is to hate the other. In the face of such severe dysfunction, filial loyalty requires candor and truth.
1. Anti-Institutional. Governing the two greatest institutions in human history, they both viscerally despise each as they are. Trump has contempt for rule of law, the Constitution, and all rules/protocols as his DOGE crusade recklessly eviscerates agencies and his tariff impulsiveness upends decades of agreements. Francis tirelessly disparaged things standard and traditional: canon law, dogma, the ancient liturgy, pious practices, and "clericalism" as he himself exemplified his exhortation to "make a mess." "Synodality" replaces the apostolic college as the locus of authority with a progressive, revolutionary, democratic "group process." Bereft of filial gratitude and loyalty, both vent a reformers rage at what is received.
2. Narcissistic. Trump need not be discussed here: he is not just a classic, case study of the condition; he is a cartoonish, caricature of it...shamelessly transparent and obvious. Francis is much more complicated.
He is not a full blown clinical case; rather he has a strong trait, that is camouflaged by a rich, complex personality. I have known and loved many priests who clearly have the trait but balance it by other good qualities: charm, humor, intelligence, generosity, affection, prayer and even (a degree) of holiness. Their preaching and ministry is even enriched by the dramatic, passionate and histrionic.
If this trait is common to priests and politicians, it is disastrous in high quantities at the level of pope and president. It underlies their iconoclastic, anarchistic recklessness. They disregard rules, traditions, restrains and surrender to the compulsions of the Imperial Ego. With the president this is obvious to all. With the pope it is disguised by contravailing, wholesome traits: genuine love for Christ, care for the poor, freedom of spirit, homiletic and inspirational creativity, personal warmth and charm. His resentment at the Church establishment is heartening to those distant from or offended by her, including the entire progressive wing therein. He is often described by his admirers as humble. For sure his love of the poor and preference for simplicity are genuine. But these coexist, serenely, with a genius for dramatic, histrionic, attention-attracting gestures. He is easily the most egoistic pontiff of the last 80 years.
3. Emotional, Resentful, Intellectually Incoherent. Both highly intelligent, they basically operate out of intuition, emotion, instinct. They are powerful in their loves and hates. Resentment is, for Trump, the overwhelming source of energy: against the left, those who impeached and tried him, anyone who criticizes or opposes him. Francis is a more complex mixture but a good portion of his pontificate was an attack on what he perceived as a rigid, judgmental, arrogant, Latin-praying, clericalist and contemptible Church. Both intellects are quick, insightful, clever, creative but incapable of sustained, coherent thought. Both prone to contradiction and inconsistency. Francis famously told the mafia they were going to hell if they did not repent but assured his agnostic journalist friend that God sends no one to hell; he simply ignored the "dubia" of the four cardinals; he consistently supported the LGBTQ cause and then used contemptuous language about "faggotry" in the Vatican. Trump infamously abstains from daily reports and decides according to who he spoke with recently and his own compulsions. With neither do you find a clear, detailed, coherent agenda other than emotional rants about immigrants, MAGA, clericalism and "synodality."
4. Superpowers: Immense Talent, Energy, Confidence. In a marvelous podcast just prior to the election, Jordan Peterson described Trump and his coterie (Musk, Vance, Kennedy, etc.) as marvel superheroes: extraordinarily talented, sublimely confident, odd, bursting with energy. They are cartoon characters, not ordinary human beings. Completely out of the normal. Each in his own realm has achieved far more than we can expect of a mere human. Jordan was positive: he acknowledged dangers involved but had great hopes for them. He was 100 % correct: developments since they took power confirm his viewpoint.
Pope Francis is in their league. He is his own man, a free spirit. Like them, he is unrestrained by norms, tradition and protocol. Reckless in his loves and hates. He was active and dynamic, even in old age and when mortally sick. He did the unprecedented as pope. Like Trump and his gang, he was fearless and fierce.
5. Elite, Populist Demagogue. Each present as populists, champions of the poor, marginalized, neglected, the one nationalist, the other globalist. Both are rhetorical geniuses, in choice of words and thoughts and presentation arousing intense loyalty and emotion among those who feel victimized. At the same time, however, they carry interior contradictions. Trump is a multi-billionaire whose tax policies up to now have benefited the investor class. Francis an anti-clerical who uses his position of power at the top of the hierarchy to impose his will. He is the enemy of populist movements around national/cultural identity and largely hostile to popular forms of piety.
6. Polarizing. The "Frump" phenomenon is intensely polarizing, in the nation and Church, because resentment is the primary energy. It is unlikely that anyone invested in the Church or national politics is neutral or indifferent about either of the two: you simply have to love them or hate them. Their energy, talent and resentments are overwhelming: each is a tidal current that can only be wholeheartedly resisted or embraced.
7. Dictatorial. Trump's tyrannical compulsions are now fully transparent. Prior to the election, I was one who expected Trump 2 to mirror his earlier administration: suprizingly moderate, deferential to experts, largely "business as usual" notwithstanding idiotic tweets. My liberal friends and family were right: the new Trump is a monster. My view is that four years of relentless battle...impeachments, trials, media assaults, etc...have created this monster. He is surging with resentment. His preternatural triumph has left him exploding with grandiosity. This Ego knows no restraints. Francis again is less straightforward, more subtle and camouflaged. But he is dictatorial in ways we have not seen in recent memory of the papacy: singlehandedly, without collegiality or "synodality," reversed Church teaching on capital punishment, communion for the divorced-remarried, and gay blessings; removed traditional bishops, and filled the college of cardinals with those who agree with him. He is correctly seen as the "Catholic Peron."
What About Leo? Leo is not Francis 2. Leo is not the Anti-Trump. He is Leo. He is integral, full scale, classic, multi-dimensional Catholic. He is authentically self-effacing, modest, humble. He is a listener who sees the good wherever it is. He is friend and partner to the liberal and the conservative. He is a patriot and a globalist. He is an institutionalist, a canon lawyer, expert in, defensive of, and reverent towards the sacramental/traditional structures and practices of the Church. He is a man of the poor, happily free of resentments. He is emotionally sober, judicious, intellectually coherent. He is energetic, talented, zealous...all in a quiet, low key. He is respectful of the proper dispersion of authority and gentle in his own exercise of it. Above all: he is a unifying force in a world gone wickedly combative. He is the "Non-Frump."
How Do We Deal With Frump-Trancis? DETACH, WITH LOVE. From the "codependency" wisdom of Alanon and similar groups, we learn how to deal with compulsives. All of us are living...all the time...everywhere...with people that are out of control...be it substance, money, sex, food, gambling, rage, anxiety, depression, power. We detach, with love. We disinvest the interest, dependency, fascination, fear, status, control we have invested. We create an emotional distance. From that position, we are able to relate in love and truth...sometimes a tough love and truth. A wholesome subsidiarity recognizes that we have all invested far too much status, fascination, power, anxiety, and hope in the top of the pyramids of both Church and State: the Pope and the President. Too much power in the center. Structurally we need to disperse authority downward in both society and Church. Localism. But more important, emotionally/spiritually each of us have to "get a life"...regain interior peace, freedom, agency, hopefulness, and joy. We need to renounce our obsessions with pope and president. For example, in the USA 2025, perhaps 40% of us are suffering some degree of Trump Derangement Syndrome: obsessive resentment, contempt, victimization, powerlessness, fear of impending doom. On the other side, close to 40% of us may acknowledge Trumpian disorders but minimalize it in the context of greater dangers from the left. The first group are victims; the second enablers; both are codependents.
Without saying or doing very much at all, Leo XIV has modeled for us a faith that is quiet, profound, humble, confident, free of anxiety and resentment, sober, intelligent, active, embracive of the good wherever it is found.
We have entered a new era in our Church and world. The age of Frump/Trancis is over! Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last! Praise Be to God!
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