"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," Trump said in a statement issued by his campaign.
Last week, Trump called Pope Francis a "very political person" and implied that the pontiff is being used as a pawn by the Mexican government.
Trump's statement on Thursday made it more explicit: "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."
Pope Francis, who is among the most influencial religious leaders in the world, is returning to the Vatican after finishing a trip to Cuba and Mexico. According to CBS News, the pope responded to reporter questions and said of Trump: "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."
Trump has vowed to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and send the bill to Mexico and he has called Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists.
Pope Francis did not go so far as to advise Catholic Americans how to vote in the upcoming primaries, according to CBS News.
Credit: Anthony Shoemaker
Credit: Anthony Shoemaker
In the past, Trump has tweeted compliments at the pope:
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