Friends, this is so unprecedented and so unbelievable we had to insure accuracy with direct sourcing for context, via exact quotes, and comprehension, via video of events.

pope francis - trump commentsFor the vicar of Christ, Pope Francis, to say another man “is not Christian” entirely because the pope disagrees with a specific point of political opinion – is unprecedented in historic Catholicism, Christianity and ancient-to-modern expressions of faith.

It is almost certain the Vatican will try to clean up this political mess with intense urgency [opinion follows content].  The Pope was asked the following question by a Reuters reporter, Phil Pullella:

Phil Pullella, Reuters: Today, you spoke very eloquently about the problems of immigration. On the other side of the border, there is a very tough electoral battle. One of the candidates for the White House, Republican Donald Trump, in an interview recently said that you are a political man and he even said that you are a pawn, an instrument of the Mexican government for migration politics.

Trump said that if he’s elected, he wants to build 2,500 kilometers of wall along the border. He wants to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, separating families, etcetera. I would like to ask you, what do you think of these accusations against you and if a North American Catholic can vote for a person like this? (citation link)

Here is the exact response by Pope Francis today:

Pope Francis: “Thank God he said I was a politician because Aristotle defined the human person as ‘animal politicus.’ 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”. (citation link)

Here is candidate Donald Trump’s response to Pope Francis:

[Via Donald Trump Press Release] 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. (citation link)

As stated, we can expect the Vatican to go into full clean-up mode and try to disconnect the Pope from the severity of his politicized words.   However, nothing the council can do will strike away the words of the pontiff denying a man’s Christian faith.

There have been multiple concerns about the current Pope being entirely too politically driven.  Many have described the Pope’s political beliefs as various blends of Marxism and Socialism.  Expressions from a life absent any personal experience with modern free market capitalism.

Regardless of what seems like the Pope’s poor judgment today, it is doubtful such words will do anything except enhance the political success of candidate Donald Trump.  There are too many people, including many Catholics, who are very concerned with Pope Francis poor decision-making…. well before his remarks today.

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