Yesterday the Pope said, a person who is into building walls not bridge's isn't Christian. Was he suggesting that there someone should build a literal, physical bridge to Mexico? Of course not.
The Pope took an all too mundane political question, and elevated it to a theological metaphor. Christians build bridges not walls. This has been a central theme of his pontificate. He has been and will continue to a be a person who looks for every possible opportunity to unite rather than divide.
He was not speaking on the subject of national defense. He was not saying a nation does not have a right to secure borders.
George Will once observed that the largest growth industry in America is the manufacture of synthetic indignation, and the response to the Pope's comment is a perfect example. The pundits and politicians who are railing, " How dare the Pope say Donald Trump is not a good Christian?" cannot be as shallow as they pretend to be. They know very well what the Pope was saying, but that doesn't make headlines.
We are in the season of Lent, a time when we are all called to acknowledge the ways in which we are not good Christians. We all fall short of the mark.
