Pope Francis and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump are not seeing eye to eye right now regarding the latter's tough immigration policy which, according to the head of the Roman Catholic Church, is not that of a Christian.
Now, even American evangelist Franklin Graham has joined the raging dispute.
"The Pope has suggested that Donald J. Trump is not Christian because he wants to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. He said, 'A person who thinks only about building walls wherever they may be and not building bridges is not Christian,'" Graham writes on his Facebook page.
While he completely agrees with what Pope Francis said, Graham says government leaders should not throw caution to the wind and "compromise our national security."
"Donald Trump isn't the only one who wants to build a wall — other Republican candidates Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Dr. Ben Carson, and John Kasich as well as millions of Americans, also want to build a wall — in order to protect America from enemies who want to use the U.S.-Mexican border as a way to enter our country and do us harm," he says.
"Are they not Christian either? My advice to the Pontiff — reach out and build a bridge to Donald Trump. Who knows where he may be this time next year!" adds Graham.
Meanwhile, Pastor Mark Burns, who is the co-founder and CEO of Christian Television Network, also offered his view on Pope Francis' statements. Burns is a well-known Trump supporter so it does not come as any surprise that he would be affronted by Pope Francis' accusation.
"The Bible, throughout the scripture, lists over and over again, the building of walls," Burns told CNN. "I'm a little perplexed for the Pope to say that one who is building walls would be un-Christian when in reality the Vatican itself is 100 percent covered around a wall."
Burns said that there is nothing wrong with taking care of one's self first, just as long as people will be able to lend a hand to those in need after. "The United States has been and will continue to be a safe haven for those who are less fortunate," he further said, adding that this could only be achieved if Americans are first and foremost assured of their personal safety.
Meanwhile, Catholic League's Bill Donohue told Newsmax TV that the issue between Pope Francis and Trump is nothing but a "contrived controversy" by the media since the reporter asked the pope "to comment on something that is not Trump's position."
"The reporter actually had the audacity to say can a Catholic vote for a man like this after misrepresenting what Trump said," he said.
And because Pope Francis is "a very genuine guy and he's going to give you the answers straight-up — regardless of how it may look, politically speaking," he gave his honest opinion.
As for Trump, Donohue said people should give him "the benefit of the doubt" since "Trump has three principles dealing with immigration: one of them is borders, which the Catholic Church has no problem with, and the other is that we have to be a nation of laws and a nation that serves its citizens."
