On Saturday, November 19, Pope Francis led a ceremony in Vatican City, welcoming 17 new cardinals from six continents. He used this as an opportunity to open up and criticize what he believes is a "polarizing surge in much of the world" today. If you pay close attention to what he said, you'll pick up that a lot of the things the pope addressed regard the negative and controversial tone presidential elect Donald Trump has set.
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Pope Francis began by calling for the "conversion of our pitiful hearts that tend to judge, divide, oppose and condemn." He even went as far as warning people against those who "raise walls, build, barriers, and label people." Um, tell me that doesn't sound like Trump?
The pope never actually uttered Trump's name, but it's pretty obvious he's referring to him and his supporters. Trump has been talking about wanting to build a wall to prevent Mexicans from crossing the border since the beginning of his campaign. He has labeled and marginalized every group you could possibly think of from Latinos, undocumented immigrants, Muslims, blacks, and women. He's also gone out of his way to exploit fear and hate.
"We see, for example, how quickly those among us with the status of the stranger, an immigrant or a refugee become a threat, take on the status of an enemy," Pope Francis added. "An enemy because they come from a distant country or have different customs."
This isn't the first time the pope has spoken out about this. Earlier this month he addressed the issue of the wall along with discrimination at the World Meeting of Popular Movements at the Vatican.
"No tyranny can be sustained without exploiting our fears. This is clear," he said at the event. "All tyranny is terrorist. And when that terror, ignited in the peripheries with massacres, looting, oppression and injustice, explodes in the centers in the form of violence, including with hateful and cowardly intent, the citizens who still have some rights are tempted by the false security of walls, physical or social–walls that close some in and banish others."
He's been a lot less blunt about his thoughts on Trump these days but back in February he went hard. "A person who only thinks about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," he told reporters. This stirred up Trump, who eventually went on to call the Pope "disgraceful" for his comments regarding his faith. Regardless, I think it's fair to assume that the pope isn't a big fan of The Donald. You have to be a pretty crappy person to get the pope dislike you. I'm just saying.
Image via Splash News
