During his weekly general audience, Pope Francis made some remarks that seemingly pointed directly at Donald Trump, a rarity for a man who usually speaks more generally about world leaders. His planned statement posited that Christians should “not raise walls but bridges, not to respond to evil with evil, to overcome evil with good.” The Pope then went off of his planned remarks to add, “A Christian can never say, ‘I’ll make you pay for that.’ Never! That is not a Christian gesture.” These remarks follow several months after Francis responded to a reporter’s question about the border wall by saying that a man who thought of building walls was “not Christian.”
This latest statement comes days after Trump’s conversation with Mexican President Pena Nieto, during which Trump reportedly echoed his promise to make Mexico pay for a border wall and further threatened to send U.S. troops to Mexico if Nieto’s army cannot eliminate its “bad hombres.” Although Pope Francis did send the President a Jan. 20th message urging him to care for the poor and outcast, he had pledged not to form an opinion of Trump until after Trump implemented specific policies. His Wednesday statements, if they truly were targeted at Trump, suggest that the Pope has seen enough of the Trump administration to share his public opinion.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/08/pope-francis-walls-bridges-donald-trump