UPDATE: Trump responds, fantasizing about ISIS attacking the Vatican and calling the Pope “disgraceful” and “a “pawn.” See his full response below. 

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Pope Francis has sharp words for Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. 

“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not of building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel,” the Pope told reporters today. 

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The Pope did not make any comment on whether Catholics should vote for Trump. Trump has previously criticized Francis for being “a very political person.” Trump told Fox Business in an interview earlier this month, “I think he doesn’t understand the problems our country has. I don’t think he understands the danger of the open border that we have with Mexico, and I think Mexico got him to do it. Because Mexico wants to keep the border just the way it is because they are making a fortune and we are losing.” Trump has also complained that Francis is not “Pope-like.” 

Francis responded: 

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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.

Here’s what the Donald used to say, a few years ago, about the Pope: 


And now, here is Trump’s response. You’ll never believe this, but it’s bananas: 

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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 because this would not have happened. ISIS would have been eradicated unlike what is happening now with our all talk, no action politicians.

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, both on trade and at the border, and they understand I am totally wise to them. 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. He doesn’t see how Mexican leadership is outsmarting President Obama and our leadership in every aspect of negotiation.

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, unlike what is happening now, with our current President. No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man’s religion or faith. 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.

Donald J. Trump