VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis repeated his appeal for people to build bridges of understanding, not walls as he marked a feast day of a Sudanese immigrant amid a global uproar over the Trump administration’s attempts to impose a travel ban on seven mostly Muslim countries.
The pope didn’t refer to President Donald Trump in his comments. But at the end of his audience, he noted that Wednesday marked both the church’s day of reflection for young victims of human trafficking and coincidentally the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita.
She was a 19th-century Sudanese slave who, after migrating to Europe, became a nun. Sudan is one of the seven countries on the U.S. travel ban list.
“In the social and civil context as well, I appeal not to create walls but to build bridges,” he said. “To not respond to evil with evil. To defeat evil with good, the offense with forgiveness. A Christian would never say ‘you will pay for that.’ Never.
“That is not a Christian gesture. An offense you overcome with forgiveness. To live in peace with everyone.”