Pope Francis said that after Donald Trump’s election, “we must knock down the walls that divide,” according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica Friday.
The leader of the Catholic Church declined to say what he thought about the billionaire who surprised the world by winning Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election, stating in the interview “I do not make judgments on people and political men, I only want to understand what suffering their behavior causes to the poor and the excluded.”
The Republican won the Catholic vote over Hillary Clinton by a 52 to 45 percent margin, despite her running mate Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., openly speaking about his Catholic faith throughout their campaign.
According to Business Insider, a Vatican diplomat said he would pray for Trump’s “enlightenment” and success as leader of the United States federal government.
In February, the pope appeared to criticize Trump’s promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, going so far as to claim boosting borders rather than “building bridges” is not Christian.
“A person who only thinks about building walls, wherever they may be, and does not focus on building bridges is not a Christian. This is not the Gospel,” the pontiff said. “In regards to voting and not voting, I will not get involved. I’m just saying that a man that is saying this is not a Christian, if he has really said all of these things. Until then, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.”
Trump fired back in a statement posted to his campaign website. “No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man’s religion or faith.” He then argued that Francis knows only one side of the story when it comes to immigration. “The pope only heard one side of the story — he didn’t see the crime, the drug trafficking and the negative economic impact the current policies have on the United States,” Trump said.
