Jen Gerson: Trump 1, Pope 0

National Post ^ | February 22, 2016 | Jen Gerson

[rickmichaels]

It’s difficult to mediate a grudge match between Donald Trump and the Pope. (Yes, it has come to this. But the less lament about the state of crazy in American politics, the better.) While visiting Mexico and encouraging the U.S. to address the growing humanitarian crisis afflicting migrants, Pope Francis responded to a question about Trump’s immigration policies.

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

Trump responded with his predictable humility. “For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful,” he responded in a statement. “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.”

For a would-be Defender of the Faith, this is an interesting claim. Surely if Trump can demand the temporal power to keep all Muslims from entering the United States “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on,” he must concede the Pontifex’s spiritual authority to question another man’s faith. Indeed, the Pope has about 2,000 years of precedent on his side on this one. For much of recent history, the Catholic Church has been traditionally un-shy about declaring apostasy, heresy and ex-communication. It’s the Church’s bag, in fact.

Not content to stop there, Trump’s supporters further went on to point to the Pope’s apparent hypocrisy. The entire state of the Vatican itself is also surrounded by walls, is it not?

[RavenLooneyToon]

[Uncle Miltie]

Let’s deport all illegals NORTH.

[rickmichaels]

HELL NO!!!