In the past, Pope Francis had been hyper critical of then-Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Inserting himself into the political arena last year, Pope Francis suggested that Trump “is not Christian” and criticized his “harshness” of deporting illegal immigrants and building the wall.
Democrats and the liberal mainstream media rallied around the Catholic Pope because even they were shocked by the leader of Christianity standing up to Trump and sticking his nose into the political realm which was obviously uncharted waters for him.
But recently, Pope Francis shocked the liberal media again when he was needled about President Trump.
Breitbart reports:
“Despite an NBC journalist’s best efforts to trick the Pope into saying something negative about President Trump, Francis held his ground Saturday, saying he looked forward to hearing what the president has to say at their upcoming meeting.
During the brief press conference held aboard the papal plane returning to Rome from Fatima Saturday, the pontiff fielded a number of questions. One came from NBC’s Claudio Lavanga, who pressed the Pope concerning his upcoming meeting with President Trump on May 24.
Without bothering to hide his evident dislike of the president, Lavanga set up an adversarial relationship between Trump and the Pope, telling the pontiff that while he is a bridge-builder, Trump ‘is threatening to build walls.’
It seems that the president also has ‘opinions and decisions different from you in other areas, for example regarding the need to act against global warming or concerning the acceptance of migrants,’ Lavanga continued.
‘So, on the vigil of your meeting with him, what opinions have you formed of the policies that President Trump has adopted on these issues and what do you expect from a meeting with a head of state that appears to think and act the opposite of you?’
Carefully sidestepping the minefield planted by the journalist, Pope Francis said it would be imprudent of him to judge someone he hasn’t yet met.
‘I never form a judgment of a person without first listening to him, and I believe that I shouldn’t do so,’ the Pope replied. ‘In speaking between ourselves, things will come out: I will say what I think; he will say what he thinks. But I have never, ever wanted to form a judgment without hearing someone out.’”
But Pope Francis did form a judgment against President Trump. It doesn’t get any more judgmental and personal than to accuse someone of not being a true Christian, right?
And yet the real problem here is the hungry liberal reporter trying to goad Francis into saying something critical of our commander-in-chief so he could then run back to his editor with a hot scoop and cause tension before their upcoming meeting.
Breitbart continued:
“There are always doors that aren’t closed,’ Francis said. ‘We have to look for doors that are at least ajar, to pass through and speak of things we agree on and move forward from there. Step by step.’
‘Peace is a work in progress, built day by day,’ he continued. ‘And so is friendship between people, mutual understanding and esteem: they are built up every day. Respect for the other, saying what one thinks, but with respect, walking together… Someone may see things in a certain way: that should be said, being very clear in what each one thinks.”
Not giving up, Lavanga insisted one last time. ‘So you think that he will soften his positions afterward?’
To which the Pope responded: ‘That is a political calculus that I would not allow myself to make. Even in the religious sphere, I am no proselytizer.’
Despite Lavanga’s portrayal of the two leaders as polar opposites, in point of fact, the Pope and the President have a fair amount of common ground to build on—arguably more than if Hillary Clinton had been elected.
Both leaders oppose abortion and euthanasia, defend religious liberty and conscientious objection, emphasize job creation, support the traditional family, and have spoken out strongly in defense of persecuted Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Even on the question of immigration, Pope Francis asserted in January that ‘every country has the right to control its borders,’ especially where the risk of terrorism exists. Here it is not so much a question of immigration vs. no-immigration, but legal immigration vs. illegal immigration.”
Although Pope Francis has contradicted himself about being critical, it’s obvious that he’s becoming wiser about staying out of political issues.
The reality is, he is not an American and therefore is unable to understand how crucial it is to eradicate criminal illegal immigrant gangs, like the violent MS-13 gang, out of our country.