A spokesman for Pope Francis says the pontiff's statement that Donald Trump "is not Christian" was not a "personal attack" on the billionaire businessman and Republican presidential candidate.
"This wasn't, in any way, a personal attack or an indication on who to vote for," papal spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said on Vatican Radio, according to NBC News. "The Pope has clearly said he didn't want to get involved in the electoral campaign in the US and also said that he said what he said on the basis of what he was told [about Trump], hence giving him the benefit of the doubt."
Francis, according to Lombardi, "said what we already know if we followed his teaching and positions: We shouldn't build walls," but bridges.
"It's his generic view, coherent with the nature of solidarity from the gospel," Lombardi said.
On Vatican radio, @Pontifex spokesperson Father Federico Lombardi clarifies Pope's Trump comments h/t @EricMarrapodi pic.twitter.com/YjOGnYFgNM— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 19, 2016
On Thursday as he returned to Rome after his six-day visit to Mexico, Francis said that "a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian."
Trump fired back, calling Francis's questioning of his faith "disgraceful."
"If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, 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. ISIS would have been eradicate,d unlike what is happening now with our all talk, no-action politicians," he said in a statement.