As Catholics across the world object to Donald Trump’s trolling image of himself as the next pope, vice president JD Vance — who has used Catholicism when it’s been politically expedient — wants to know: What’s the big deal?

Turns out, nothing is sacred in the world of MAGA — as long as it’s Trump doing the desecrating.

Vance — the highest-ranking Catholic elected official in the nation — was asked on Twitter what he thought of Trump’s mocking artificially produced image — which was shared Friday night on Trump’s Truth Social site and later reposted by the White House on its official Twitter/X account.

Vance tweeted that he was OK with it — as was everyone else in MAGA land.

“I’m fine with people telling jokes,” Vance posted, while also employing the expected MAGA whataboutism with a remark about “silly wars.” (An inside baseball reference to the questioner’s role in the Bush administration.)

“This is a photograph of deep unrelenting perversion,” MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell tweeted.

Vance’s flippant (and hypocritical) response to Trump’s “perversion” was not well-received.

“If Joe Biden had posted this and it had been shared by the White House, Republicans nationwide would have levitated with white-hot, righteous fury. But it’s their Supreme Leader, so … it’s cute!” one Twitter user posted.

Fr. James Martin, a Jesuit, said he was offended, but would forgive Trump.

“Jesuits are always supposed to give people the benefit of the doubt,” he tweeted to his 280,000 followers. “So even though I find this deeply offensive, I will presume that Mr. Trump meant this light-heartedly (even though he had just recently returned from Pope Francis’s Funeral Mass, and he has a Catholic Vice President who met with Francis the day before his death).

“But imagine the incandescent outrage, the swift condemnation, and the individual and joint protests from the US bishops if this had been done by Joe Biden or Barack Obama.”

Fred Guttenberg, a gun safety advocate whose daughter was killed in the Parkland high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., roasted Vance.

“Shut up, JD Vance,” he tweeted. “This wasn’t funny, but it does make clear how you really feel about religion. You are a fake and a fraud. As for the killing of your countrymen, if you seriously gave a f-ck, you would be working day and night to solve gun violence.”

Trump’s offensive post comes as the mourning of Pope Francis continues and just days before the conclave to elect his successor is set to begin. Trump’s action drew rebukes from a group representing Catholic bishops in New York and among Italians.

The Vatican, which is still in the period of nine days of official mourning following Francis’ death on April 21. Catholic cardinals have been celebrating daily Masses in his memory and are due to open the conclave to elect his successor on Wednesday.

The death of a pope and election of another is a matter of utmost solemnity for Catholics, for whom the pope is Christ’s vicar on Earth. That is all the more true in Italy, where the papacy is held in high esteem even by nonreligious Italians.

The image featuring Trump in a white cassock and pointed miter, or bishop’s hat, was the topic of several questions during the Vatican’s daily conclave briefing Saturday. Italian and Spanish news reports lamented its poor taste and said it was offensive, given that the period of official mourning is still underway.

Left-leaning former Premier Matteo Renzi said the image was shameful.

“This is an image that offends believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the right-wing world enjoys clowning around,” Renzi wrote on X. “Meanwhile, the U.S. economy risks recession and the dollar loses value. The sovereignists are doing damage, everywhere.”

The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, declined to comment.

In the United States, the New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the bishops of the state in working with government, accused Trump of mockery.

“There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President,” they wrote. “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.”

The AP contributed to this report.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.