Pope Francis warns: ‘Those who build walls will become prisoners of the walls they put up’

by Justin Wise - 04/01/19 5:08 PM ET

Pope Francis on Sunday condemned nations that choose to build walls to thwart immigration, saying they would become “prisoners” of their own barriers.

“Those who build walls will become prisoners of the walls they put up,” the pope told reporters while aboard a flight to Rome after a visit to Morocco, according to CNN. “This is history.”

{mosads}Francis added that he wept after being shown a piece of concertina wire from a border along Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta. The region borders Morocco.

Francis has repeatedly condemned governments that look to enforce hard-line immigration policies. Asked in Panama earlier this year about President Trump’s long-sought wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, he said that “it is the fear that makes us crazy.”

Francis said in February 2016, as Trump was campaigning for president, that his call for a border wall made him “not Christian.”

“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” Francis said at the time. “This is not the gospel.”

Trump has repeatedly advocated for a wall along the southern border, since his 2016 presidential campaign. He declared a national emergency earlier this year to fund one after Congress passed a spending bill without his border security demands.

The Pentagon transferred $1 billion from its account to help build Trump’s wall last week.

Tags Border wall Donald Trump Donald Trump