“As of today, I no longer consider myself a Catholic. I am a Christian,” Hannity said. “I left the Catholic church in large part due to the institutionalized corruption, and it was at the parish level, to the bishop level, cardinals, all the way to Rome.”

Hannity did not point to any single incident but referenced what he described as longstanding scandals and misconduct within the church. He said the issues were not adequately addressed and criticized what he called a failure to correct serious problems over time.

“Frankly not only unchecked, they never fully corrected it or dealt with it,” Hannity said, referring to the controversies. “Others at the Vatican have totally lost the true meaning of the Bible and its teachings.”

His remarks came as tensions escalated between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV following the pope’s comments on the ongoing conflict involving Iran. The exchange drew attention across political and religious circles.

Trump criticized the pope in a post on Truth Social, writing, “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” He also accused the Catholic Church and other Christian organizations of failing to speak out during COVID-era restrictions.

“He talks about ‘fear’ of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID,” Trump wrote. “They were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services,” he added.