U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump quickly responded on Thursday to Pope Francis' reported statement that his views on immigration were "not Christian," saying it was "disgraceful" for a religious leader to question anyone's faith.
Trump later sounded conciliatory, saying he would "meet with the Pope anytime he wants" to clarify his stand on the issue, Newsmax reported.
"I have a lot of respect for the Pope," he told host Anderson Cooper at a CNN town hall in Columbia, South Carolina. "I think he has a lot of personality. He's very different."
On Wednesday, Pope Francis responded to a reporter's question about Trump's immigration policy being in conflict with the gospel by saying, "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."
Trump called the comment "disgraceful" and said the Pope apparently is not aware of crime linked with illegal immigration, WND reported.
"If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS ... 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," the billionaire told Fox News.
In his statement, Trump also blasted the Mexican leadership, saying the latter "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."
Trump said 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."
He said the Mexican leaders "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."
Trump said he is "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."
