Controversy surrounded megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll after his Mother’s Day post on X, which some felt was inappropriate.

On May 10th, which also marks the second Sunday in May, when the U.S. celebrates Mother’s Day, Driscoll tweeted, “Mary was a teen mom, and Jesus had no earthly father. It’s a good thing there was no Planned Parenthood in Nazareth.”

Backlash came from both Catholic and Protestant voices worldwide.

Catholic commentators who objected to Driscoll’s characterization of Mary as a “teen mom” cited his post as offensive to the Hallowed Mother. According to The Christian Post, Kenny Burchard, founder of Bridge Builders International and Catholic Bible Highlights, posted in response, “Behold, Mark Driscoll insists Mary would have had Jesus killed if she’d had the chance. Vile and utterly disgusting. But to be fair, he was an altar boy, though.”

Additionally, conservative Catholic Brent Casteel likened Driscoll’s example to one of extreme spiritual downsizing, saying, “Calling our Blessed Mother a teen mom is like calling the Ark of the Covenant a cigar box.”

Others still called out the obvious nature of Driscoll’s anti-Catholic rhetoric. Christopher Hale, author behind the popular Substack account, “Letters from Leo,” retweeted the original post and added the following: “NEW: In an anti-Catholic screed, MAGA evangelical pastor Mark Driscoll says that the Virgin Mary would’ve aborted Jesus Christ if she were near a Planned Parenthood.”

Sentiments against any consideration of abortion on Mary’s part of abortion directly contradict Luke’s account of the Annunciation, in which Mary willingly accepted the angel Gabriel’s message.

In Luke 1, the angel “went to a virgin promised in marriage to a descendant of David named Joseph,” no sooner greeting Mary with the words, “You are favored by the Lord! The Lord is with you.”

In this account, even though Mary is startled by Gabriel’s words and perhaps tries to understand the meaning, Gabriel further tells her not to be afraid. Just as she has found favor with God, she will become pregnant, give birth to a son, and name him Jesus. The angel promises that the baby growing inside her body will be a great man and “will be called the Son of the Most High.”

However, when Mary asks Gabriel how this is going to happen, given her virginity, the angel replies, “The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy child developing inside you will be called the Son of God.”

When the Virgin Mother then answered, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let everything you’ve said happen to me,” Mary became an example worthy of exultation and veneration. Particularly for those in the Catholic tradition, “because of Mary’s singular cooperation with the action of the Holy Spirit, the Church loves to pray in communion with the Virgin Mary, to magnify with her the great things the Lord has done for her, and to entrust supplications and praises to her.”

Although historians do generally place Mary’s age in her mid-teens, per Jewish betrothal customs of the era, the objections of Driscoll’s many critics center on the rhetorical framing – not on the historical fact. In this way, to then imply that Mary may have considered abortion is therefore deeply offensive to those who venerate the Mother of God.

Criticism came not only from the Catholic tradition but also from those across the Christian spectrum.

On X, Abby Libby, self-described as “just a mom who needs Jesus,” stated that the post was biblically illiterate and “disrespectful to a heroic woman God chose…” Similarly, Lizzie, an “aggressively Protestant” goat milk farmer, called for Driscoll to delete his post: “Considering Mary was a faithful servant of God who talked face to face with an angel, this is the weirdest post to date. Completely out of pocket, swing and a miss. Mary would’ve never done that. Delete this.”

For others across the Protestant and Catholic spectrum, Driscoll’s musings were described as “wildly grotesque and unimaginably disgusting.” Meanwhile, Driscoll’s post was heavily ratioed, drawing over 126,000 impressions but only 129 likes.

According to Protestia, “Driscoll later added that he was using anachronism for rhetorical effect.” Like many of his followers on X, Driscoll shares a pro-life intent, even if the post was found reductive or disrespectful to Mary.

Intent aside, this is not the first time Driscoll has faced controversy or criticism. He is the founding pastor of Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, which draws roughly 5,000 worshipers per service and recently announced a $15.5 million expansion. The former founder of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, the megachurch location grew to 15 locations across five states, with over 14,000 members. However, in 2014, after multiple allegations of bullying, manipulation, and a cult-like atmosphere surfaced, Driscoll resigned from his position and the church dissolved soon afterward.

As per the tweet itself, it has not yet been deleted from X.