Pope Francis appears to knock Trump with appeal to build bridges instead of walls

Pope Francis appeared to knock President Trump in his weekly statement at the Vatican, calling on people to build bridges instead walls.

“In the social and civil context as well, I appeal not to create walls, but to build bridges,” he said on Wednesday, according to multiple reports.

Francis did not mention Trump by name nor the president’s plan to build a border wall along the border with Mexico.

{mosads}“To not respond to evil with evil. To defeat evil with good, the offense with forgiveness. A Christian would never say ‘you will pay for that.’ Never,” Francis said.

“That is not a Christian gesture,” he added. “An offense you overcome with forgiveness. To live in peace with everyone.”

Francis denounced Trump’s border wall after a trip to Mexico last February.

“A person who thinks only about building walls — wherever they may be — and not building bridges, is not Christian,” he said, according to The Associated Press.

“I’d just say that this man is not Christian if he said it this way.”

Trump, then a presidential candidate, called Francis’s remarks “disgraceful.”

“For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful,” Trump said.

“No leader, especially a religious leader, has the right to question another man’s religion or faith.”