This must be the divine intervention that American Catholics have been praying for. It must be tough to be a Republican, though we have absolutely no sympathy for the current conundrum members of this benighted party face. It seems that they have been struggling with choosing between Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and an almost unending stream of losers. Now that Trump has taken on the Pope, members of the Grand Old Party are going to have to fish or cut bait.
Not being of any particular religion, we admit to have been paying somewhat more attention to the Holy See of late. It is the ongoing attempt of Pope Francis to drag the Roman Church kicking and screaming out of the middle ages that has caught our attention. While appreciating his efforts, this Pope has to realize that he is just one man against millions. He should note the current schism that has torn apart the Anglican Union and take heed.
Francis and Trump are interesting protagonists. The Pope came through the stifling and conservative environment of the College of Cardinals to the leadership of his church. Trump came through the open and liberal environment of America to become a billionaire and to act the buffoon.
The one thing you did not suspect was that the Pope would initiate the global sparring with Donald Trump. While no sensible citizen of the world would be comfortable with the chilling thought of Donald Trump at the helm of the world’s most powerful nation, it is not wise for an outsider to tell Americans what mistakes they might make. They seem to like finding out for themselves. They do it often enough.
In this case the Pope was commenting on people who want to build walls along borders instead of bridges. He did not consider people who wanted to build walls to be Christian. Since that is one of Trump’s signature solutions to neighbouring countries, he responded with some heat. He felt that the Pope had no right to question anyone’s faith. That is surprising considering how Trump talks about Muslims.
The Pope was talking about abortion with the media on his plane when the subject of Trump came naturally to the mind of a reporter. It is our humble opinion that the Pope showed great restraint in his response. Mr. Trump does not know what “restraint” means.
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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