American President Donald Trump on Saturday sparked reactions after posting an AI photo of himself adorning a pope’s robe as the Catholic Church awaits the election of a new pope in May.

Mr Trump, on his Truth Social account, posted the photo on Saturday, about two weeks after the demise of Pope Francis, Jorge Mario Bergoglio. The White House also posted the same picture on X.

Pope Francis, who assumed leadership of the church and served from 2013 until his death, was buried last week.

The AI-generated photo of Mr Trump in a pope’s cassock has elicited reactions as the Catholic Church looks forward to the conclave electing a new pope.

Filipino Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David frowned at Mr Trump’s post, saying, “Not funny, sir.”

“An AI-generated photo was posted by the U.S. President himself, a few days after he attended the funeral of Pope Francis and while the Catholic world is still mourning. With all due respect to his office and the American people, we’d like him to know it’s not funny,” the cleric said.

During Sunday mass at Cardinal Dolan’s church, Gerald Murray, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, described Mr Trump’s post as silly, adding, “You don’t do that.”

The former prime minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi, in a post on X, said, “This is an image that offends believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the right-wing world enjoys clowning around.”

In a post on X, the New York State Catholic Conference lashed out at Mr Trump, saying, “There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President. We just buried our beloved Pope Francis, and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St. Peter. Do not mock us.”

Asked to respond to reactions to Mr Trump’s controversial post, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt justified the American president.

“President Trump flew to Italy to pay his respects to Pope Francis and attend his funeral, and he has been a staunch champion for Catholics and religious liberty,” Ms Leavitt said

Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator and close Trump ally, in a post on X, said, “I was excited to hear that President Trump is open to the idea of being the next pope.”

He added, “This would truly be a dark horse candidate, but I would ask the papal conclave and Catholic faithful to keep an open mind about this possibility! The first Pope-U.S. President combination has many upsides. Watching for white smoke.”

Last week, the Vatican announced the conclave, consisting of 133 cardinals under 80 years, will converge in Rome by May 7 to commence the election process for a new pope.