Madonna criticises Pope Leo’s Gospel message in viral Catholic thread
Thomas Edwards • September 23, 2025
The pop icon Madonna has caused a social media storm after criticising Pope Leo in a comment on a CNA (Catholic News Agency) Instagram post.
CNA posted a picture of the American pontiff with the words “My priority is the Gospel, not the world’s problems.” The caption referred to an excerpt from his recent interview with Crux senior correspondent Elise Ann Allen, where the Pope said: “I don’t see my primary role as trying to be the solver of the world’s problems. I don’t see my role as that at all, really, although I think that the Church has a voice, a message that needs to continue to be preached, to be spoken and spoken loudly.”
Related: Pope Leo XIV says synodality is key to unity in newly released interview
While the CNA Instagram account has a wide reach, with almost 650,000 followers, it is not accustomed to celebrity interaction. However, Madonna chose to reply beneath the post with a scathing critique of the Pope’s sentiment. She wrote: “The whole point of teaching and learning the Gospel is to inspire people to love one another and make the world a better place. Not just with words but with actions, which is exactly what Jesus did. I am truly disappointed by this.” At the time of writing, the comment has been liked 1,479 times, with her followers posting images of the star and voicing their support.
Others, however, criticised her intervention. One user replied: “That’s literally the point. When you learn the Gospel, you become inspired to change the world. By teaching the Gospel, you change the world. How is that disappointing?” Another wrote: “No, the point is not to ‘make the world a better place.’ The point is to love God and enjoy eternal life in Heaven with Him.”
This is not the first time the Michigan-born star has engaged with Pope Leo, the 267th Pontiff and the first from the United States. In August, Madonna urged Pope Leo XIV to visit Gaza and bring his “light to the children before it’s too late.”
Related: Madonna begs Pope Leo to visit Gaza 'before it’s too late'
Madonna, often described as the “Queen of Pop”, was raised a Catholic, with much of her work featuring Catholic themes and imagery. Born to Catholic parents in 1958, she attended St Andrew’s Catholic Elementary School. She took the name Veronica at her confirmation, a name she sometimes adds to her full name, Madonna Louise Ciccone.
She entered the entertainment industry primarily through dance and backup singing, before quickly establishing a career as a solo artist. Through songs such as Like a Prayer (1989), Oh Father (1989), Act of Contrition (1989), Nothing Fails (2003), and Joan of Arc (2015), Madonna has incorporated her Catholic background into her work, noting herself that “I always feel some kind of inexplicable connection with Catholicism. It kind of shows up in all of my work, as you may have noticed.”
However, she has frequently tested the boundaries of what is acceptable to Catholics under the guise of artistic expression. After the release of Like a Prayer, Pope John Paul II encouraged Italians to boycott her Blond Ambition tour. In 2006, her concert tour, which included Rome, had a scene in which she appeared in a mock crucifixion wearing a crown of thorns. Italian Cardinal Ersilio Tonini described it as a “blasphemous challenge to the faith and a profanation of the Cross”.
Madonna has been married twice—first in an outdoor ceremony to the actor Sean Penn, and later in an Anglican service to the English film director Guy Ritchie. While she never formally severed ties with Catholicism, she has spent much of her career practising Kabbalah, a modern, non-traditional form of Jewish mysticism. In 2011, it was reported that she spent more than an hour at an Opus Dei centre.
She has also reached out to engage with Pope Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis. In 2019, during an interview with Australian talk show host Andrew Denton, she said: “Don’t you think Jesus would agree that a woman has the right to choose what to do with her body? I think [Pope Francis] would be open to having that conversation with me.”
Three years later, in 2022, she tweeted: “Hello @Pontifex Francis – I’m a good Catholic. I Swear! I mean I don’t Swear! It’s been a few decades since my last confession. Would it be possible to meet up one day to discuss some important matters?”
Earlier this year it was revealed that Pope Leo claims common ancestry with the pop singer, alongside Angelina Jolie, Hillary Clinton, Justin Trudeau, Jack Kerouac and Justin Bieber.
Related: Pope Leo XIV’s ancestry includes African American roots and ties to Justin Bieber
(Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for Billboard Magazine)