WASHINGTON — Two of the most visible figures on the international stage, Pope Francis and Donald Trump, exchanged heated words over immigration Thursday, creating another dramatic twist in an extraordinary political year.
The long-distance volley, impelled, like so much of the campaign, by Trump’s language on Mexican immigration, created a moment that actually merits the overused label “unprecedented.”
No previous pope has as pointedly commented on a central issue in a U.S. presidential campaign as Francis did in his remarks on his plane, flying back to the Vatican after his trip to Mexico.
“A person who only thinks about building walls, wherever they are, and not in building bridges, is not Christian,” the pope said, in response to a question about Trump’s oft-repeated vow to build a wall along the Mexican border. “That is not part of the gospel,” he said.
And no major presidential candidate has so sharply criticized a major religious leader as Trump did in reply.
“For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful,” Trump said in a statement, in which he suggested the Mexican government had manipulated the pope.
“If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which, as everyone knows, is ISIS’ ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president,” Trump said, using an acronym for Islamic State.
In a speech later in the day, Trump said he expected his remarks and the pope’s were “probably going to be all over the world.”
“Who the hell cares?” he added. “I don’t care. I don’t care because we have to stop illegal immigration.”
Francis’ words came at the end of a six-day tour of Mexico that culminated in a Mass on the U.S.-Mexico border.
In his comments, which came in response to a question about Trump’s pledge to build a wall and his insistence on deporting the roughly 11 million immigrants currently in the U.S. illegally, the pope said it was not his intention to meddle in the U.S. election. He added that he would give Trump the benefit of the doubt to determine if he really said the things attributed to him.
“Whether I would advise to vote or not to vote, I am not going to get involved in that,” he said. “I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that.”
Trump had criticized Francis last week in advance of the Mexico trip, calling the Pope “a very political person” although adding that “he seems like a pretty good guy.”
Trump, characteristically, offered no caveats in his response.
“The Mexican government and its leadership has made many disparaging remarks about me to the pope because they want to continue to rip off the United States,” he wrote. “The pope only heard one side of the story,” he said. “They are using the pope as a pawn.
“I am proud to be a Christian and as president I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened,” he said.
“No leader,” Trump added, “especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man’s religion or faith.”
A transcript of the pope’s remarks was released by the Vatican. Here is the full question and answer:
Q: Good evening, Your Holiness. Today you spoke eloquently about the problems of migrants. On the other side of the frontier there’s a very tough electoral campaign going on. One of the Republican candidates for the White House, Donald Trump, in a recent interview, said you are a “political man” and that maybe you are a pawn of the Mexican government as far as immigration policy is concerned. He has said that if elected, he would build a 2,500-kilometer long wall along the border. He wants to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, thus separating families, etc. I would like to ask you first off what do you think of these accusations against you, and if an American Catholic can vote for someone like this.
A: Thank God he said I was a politician because Aristotle defined the human person as “animal politicus.” So at least I am a human person. As to whether I am a pawn, well, maybe, I don’t know. I’ll leave that up to your judgment and that of the people. And then, a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the gospel. As far as what you said about whether I would advise to vote or not to vote, I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that. We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt.
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