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Pope on Trump: Anyone who wants border walls isn’t Christian Pope: Trump ‘is not Christian’ if he wants to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border
(35 minutes later)
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Pope Francis said Thursday that Donald Trump is “not Christian” if he intends to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. Trump immediately fired back, saying it is disgraceful for a religious leader to question a person’s faith. KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Hours after praying for Mexican migrants who died trying to reach the United States, Pope Francis singled out Donald Trump, telling reporters aboard the papal plane that anybody who wants to build border walls "is not Christian."
Trump, a leading U.S. Republican presidential candidate, has promised to build a wall along the Mexican border from Texas to California and expel 11 million people who are in the country illegally if elected president. The Pope’s comments en route home from Mexico came hours after he prayed at the Mexico-U.S. border for people who died trying to reach the United States. “A person who thinks only about building walls — wherever they may be — and not building bridges, is not Christian,” Francis said Thursday, according to a translation from the Associated Press. "This is not in the Gospel."
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” Francis said. “This is not in the Gospel.” He added: "I'd just say that this man is not Christian if he said it this way."
Not having heard Trump’s border plans independently, Francis said he’d “give him the benefit of the doubt.” But he added: “I’d just say that this man is not Christian if he said it this way.” Trump, a Presbyterian, strongly rebuked the pope's comments.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, another Republican presidential contender, has also supported building a border wall, and joked that he will make Trump pay for it. "For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful," the Republican presidential front-runner said in South Carolina, where he is campaigning. "I'm proud to be a Christian, and as president I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened, unlike what is happening now with our current president."
Trump, a Presbyterian, last week criticized Francis’ plans to pray at the border. He said the move was ill-informed and showed Francis to be a political figure being exploited by the Mexican government. [Trump: Churches should not lose tax-exempt status for political participation]
“I don’t think he understands the danger of the open border that we have with Mexico,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News. “I think Mexico got him to do it because they want to keep the border just the way it is. They’re making a fortune, and we’re losing.” On his trip home from Mexico, Francis said that he does not believe Trump's promises to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and build a wall along the U.S-Mexico border reflects Christian values.
On Thursday, he responded to the Pope’s comments during a campaign stop in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Those positions have been at the core of the real estate mogul's pitch to voters, who believe political leaders have not done enough to protect American interests at home and abroad.
“No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man’s religion or faith,” he said. “They are using the Pope as a pawn and they should be ashamed of themselves for doing so, especially when so many lives are involved and when illegal immigration is so rampant.” [Some American Catholics really don't like Pope Francis]
He also said the Mexican government has disparaged him to the Pope and separately invoked the Islamic State group, saying that if it attacks the Vatican, “I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president because this would not have happened.” Trump's critics have accused him of racism and disregarding the destitute economic conditions that many undocumented immigrants have fled.
Asked if he felt he was being used as a pawn of Mexico, Francis said he didn’t know. Trump said Thursday that he was surprised to hear the pope's comments and said he believes political leaders in Mexico negatively influenced the Holy See. Mexican officials, he added, are "using the pope as a pawn."
“I leave that judgment to you, the people.” "The pope only heard one side of the story," Trump said.
But he seemed quite pleased to hear that Trump had called him a “political” figure, noting that Aristotle had described the human being as a “political animal.” The billionaire also indicated that the pope would change his mind if the Vatican were attacked by Islamic State terrorists.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. “If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President,” Trump said, reading from a statement. “ISIS would have been eradicated unlike what is happening now with our all talk, no action politicians.”
A senior Trump adviser took to Twitter on Thursday to note that a wall already exists around Vatican City.
Amazing comments from the Pope- considering Vatican City is 100% surrounded by massive walls. pic.twitter.com/g3iVLDVGe5 — Dan Scavino (@DanScavino) February 18, 2016
Amazing comments from the Pope- considering Vatican City is 100% surrounded by massive walls. pic.twitter.com/g3iVLDVGe5
— Dan Scavino (@DanScavino) February 18, 2016
Three years ago, on that same social media platform, Trump spoke favorably of Francis.
The new Pope is a humble man, very much like me, which probably explains why I like him so much! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 25, 2013
The new Pope is a humble man, very much like me, which probably explains why I like him so much!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 25, 2013
Trump's response to the pope came three days after he criticized rival Ted Cruz for how the senator from Texas invoked his Christian faith during the campaign. During an appearance before activists in South Carolina on Monday, Trump argued that he would be the better guardian of Christian values, before saying: "Christianity is being chopped away at. Chop, chop, chop."
Cruz has also supported building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying in December: "We will build a wall that works, and I'll get Donald Trump to pay for it."
Following Trump's rally here Thursday, one 65-year-old Catholic said the pope was "becoming too political."
"I'm against what he's doing," said Kathy Hogan, a retired economics teacher who lives in Kiawah Island. "I understand he's a very holy man, but I think he needs to stay out of politics."
DelReal reported from Columbia, S.C. du Lac is in Washington. Mark Berman and Ed O'Keefe contributed to this post, which has been updated.