VATICAN CITY (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The papal spokesman is stressing that Pope Francis often says build bridges, not walls, and that his remark while flying back from Mexico wasn't targeting GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi sought to clarify the issue Friday, telling Vatican Radio that Francis' comments were "in no way a personal attack nor an indication on how to vote.''
Lombardi noted Francis often has advocated "building not walls, but bridges,'' especially regarding Europe, as it struggles to handle the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty.
Trump has repeatedly called for a wall to divide the United States and Mexico. The pope's comments Thursday came hours after he prayed at the Mexico-U.S. border for migrants who died trying to reach the United States.
Francis said that a person who advocates building walls for solutions is "not Christian.''
"A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be located, and not of building bridges is not Christian," the pope said.
Not having heard Trump's border plans independently, Francis said he'd "give him the benefit of the doubt." But he added, "I'd just say that this man is not Christian if he said it this way."
Trump retorted it was "disgraceful'' to question a person's faith.
"He's questioning my faith — I was very surprised to see it," Trump said. "I am a Christian and I'm proud of it."
At Thursday night's Republican town hall on CNN in South Carolina, Trump seemed to take a softer tone when responding to the pope's remarks.
"I don't like fighting with the pope," he said. "I don't think it's a fight. I think he said something much softer than was initially reported by the media."
Trump said he believes the pope has only heard one side of the story, as told by the Mexican government, and isn't aware of the problems Trump claims are caused by a porous border.
He also said he has great respect for Pope Francis. Still, he couldn't help but offer a dig, noting that, "He's got an awfully big wall at the Vatican.''
Dan Scavino, Trump's social media director, also took the pope to task saying on Twitter that the Vatican is surrounded by walls.
"Amazing comments from the Pope- considering Vatican City is 100% surrounded by massive walls," Scavino tweeted.
Trump has promised to build a wall along the Mexican border from Texas to California and expel 11 million people who are in the country illegally if elected president.
On Friday, a Vatican spokesman clarified that the Pontiff was, 'in no way' launching a personal attack on Trump or trying to sway voters. He stressed that Francis often speaks about building bridges and not walls.
At Thursday night's town hall, Trump's rivals also weighed in on the pope's comments.
"First off, I'm pro-pope -- put me down in the pro-pope column," said Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
"I just don't think it's appropriate to question Donald Trump's faith," said former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. "He know what his faith is. If he has a relationship with the Lord, fantastic. If he doesn't, it's none of my business."
Bush did throw a jab at Trump.
"Trump's never shown interest in anyone else but himself," he said.
And Trump was on the offensive as well, launching into other candidates.
"Cruz is totally controlled by the oil companies," he said.
Speaking of Ted Cruz, he has narrowed the gap with Trump in the latest South Carolina poll.
He told voters at a rally on Friday, that it's not just the presidency at stake, but the Supreme Court as well.
"We are just one justice away from a radical five-justice liberal majority that will strike down every restriction on abortion across the country and mandate unlimited abortion on demand," Cruz said.
Meantime the other candidates continued to make their push through the Palmetto State.
"We wanna do for America, what your governor and legislature has done for South Carolina," Rubio said.
"I wanna make sure that our kids are going to be able to have the same kind of ife we got from our parents or maybe even better," Kasich said.
In Nevada, Bernie Sanders held a rally in the 20,000 person town of Elko, while Clinton shook hands with housekeepers folding linens in the basement of a Las Vegas casino.
She is hoping minorities and unions give her the edge over Sanders, but the Culinary Union, the states' largest is not endorsing a candidate this year.
The union had backed Senator Barack Obama in 2008, but Clinton won the caucuses.
A CBS News poll shows Clinton with an 8 point lead in the Democratic race.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Vatican: Pope's 'Don't Build Walls' Comment Not Singling Out Trump
/ CBS New York
VATICAN CITY (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The papal spokesman is stressing that Pope Francis often says build bridges, not walls, and that his remark while flying back from Mexico wasn't targeting GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi sought to clarify the issue Friday, telling Vatican Radio that Francis' comments were "in no way a personal attack nor an indication on how to vote.''
Lombardi noted Francis often has advocated "building not walls, but bridges,'' especially regarding Europe, as it struggles to handle the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty.
Trump has repeatedly called for a wall to divide the United States and Mexico. The pope's comments Thursday came hours after he prayed at the Mexico-U.S. border for migrants who died trying to reach the United States.
Francis said that a person who advocates building walls for solutions is "not Christian.''
"A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be located, and not of building bridges is not Christian," the pope said.
Not having heard Trump's border plans independently, Francis said he'd "give him the benefit of the doubt." But he added, "I'd just say that this man is not Christian if he said it this way."
Trump retorted it was "disgraceful'' to question a person's faith.
"He's questioning my faith — I was very surprised to see it," Trump said. "I am a Christian and I'm proud of it."
At Thursday night's Republican town hall on CNN in South Carolina, Trump seemed to take a softer tone when responding to the pope's remarks.
"I don't like fighting with the pope," he said. "I don't think it's a fight. I think he said something much softer than was initially reported by the media."
Trump said he believes the pope has only heard one side of the story, as told by the Mexican government, and isn't aware of the problems Trump claims are caused by a porous border.
He also said he has great respect for Pope Francis. Still, he couldn't help but offer a dig, noting that, "He's got an awfully big wall at the Vatican.''
Dan Scavino, Trump's social media director, also took the pope to task saying on Twitter that the Vatican is surrounded by walls.
"Amazing comments from the Pope- considering Vatican City is 100% surrounded by massive walls," Scavino tweeted.
Trump has promised to build a wall along the Mexican border from Texas to California and expel 11 million people who are in the country illegally if elected president.
On Friday, a Vatican spokesman clarified that the Pontiff was, 'in no way' launching a personal attack on Trump or trying to sway voters. He stressed that Francis often speaks about building bridges and not walls.
At Thursday night's town hall, Trump's rivals also weighed in on the pope's comments.
"First off, I'm pro-pope -- put me down in the pro-pope column," said Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
"I just don't think it's appropriate to question Donald Trump's faith," said former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. "He know what his faith is. If he has a relationship with the Lord, fantastic. If he doesn't, it's none of my business."
Bush did throw a jab at Trump.
"Trump's never shown interest in anyone else but himself," he said.
And Trump was on the offensive as well, launching into other candidates.
"Cruz is totally controlled by the oil companies," he said.
Speaking of Ted Cruz, he has narrowed the gap with Trump in the latest South Carolina poll.
He told voters at a rally on Friday, that it's not just the presidency at stake, but the Supreme Court as well.
"We are just one justice away from a radical five-justice liberal majority that will strike down every restriction on abortion across the country and mandate unlimited abortion on demand," Cruz said.
Meantime the other candidates continued to make their push through the Palmetto State.
"We wanna do for America, what your governor and legislature has done for South Carolina," Rubio said.
"I wanna make sure that our kids are going to be able to have the same kind of ife we got from our parents or maybe even better," Kasich said.
In Nevada, Bernie Sanders held a rally in the 20,000 person town of Elko, while Clinton shook hands with housekeepers folding linens in the basement of a Las Vegas casino.
She is hoping minorities and unions give her the edge over Sanders, but the Culinary Union, the states' largest is not endorsing a candidate this year.
The union had backed Senator Barack Obama in 2008, but Clinton won the caucuses.
A CBS News poll shows Clinton with an 8 point lead in the Democratic race.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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