Evangelical Trump supporters want meeting with Pope Francis

NEW YORK – Some evangelical supporters of President Donald Trump are seeking a meeting with Pope Francis over a recent critical article in a Vatican-approved journal.

A leader of Trump’s evangelical advisory board says they are responding to the journal article published last month that accused some American Catholics of forming a political alliance of “hate” with evangelicals who back the president. The article was written by two of the pope’s close confidants in a journal that is vetted by the Vatican Secretariat of State.

Evangelical leaders say they want to address attempts to divide Catholics and evangelicals and seek common ground.

The request to the pope was made public Monday by Johnnie Moore, who is part of Trump’s evangelical advisory board and a spokesman for some of its members.