Pope Francis decided to jump into the presidential race today by saying, “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel.”
Francis admitted he has not independently studied Trump’s border plans and then stated, “I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that.”
For Catholic voters, the indictment directed at both Trump and Cruz, who both support building a wall along the Mexico border, is huge.
Billionaire real estate mogul Trump quickly responded by saying, “For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful. I am proud to be a Christian and as president I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened.”
For a Catholic Pope to jump into the political fray is highly unusual.
But not for Pope Francis.
In September of last year, Francis waded into the immigration debate apparently representing Mexico on the issue.
Pope Francis spoke before a joint session of Congress and addressed immigration, income equality, and climate change.
One Catholic member of Congress boycotted the session saying, if the Pope acts like a leftist politician, he should “expect to be treated like one.”
Even the premier Catholic organization in the United States, Catholic Vote, appears to be at odds with the Pope. In addressing immigration, Catholic Vote states, “The Catholic Church has never advocated for illegal immigration or open borders. It respects the sovereign rule of law of the United States. It recognizes the need for effective border enforcement that protects Americans from criminal and terrorist elements but at the same time allows for orderly and legal immigration.”
Catholic Vote’s statements fall in line with the Vatican’s own actions.
Vatican City is surrounded by a huge wall that can be seen from space.
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