Pope Francis calls on President Trump to care for the poor and the outcast

Pope Francis sent a congratulatory message to President Donald J. Trump on Friday, telling the new president that the global stature of the United States will be measured “by its concern for the poor, the outcast and those in need.”

“Upon your inauguration as the forty-fifth President of the United States of America, I offer you my cordial good wishes and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high office,” the pope wrote.

Francis, who has made highlighting the global refugee crisis a hallmark of his papacy, wrote that “our human family is beset by grave humanitarian crises demanding farsighted and united political responses.”

He wrote that he prayed that Mr. Trump’s decisions as president would be “guided by the rich spiritual and ethical values that have shaped the history of the American people and your nation’s commitment to the advancement of human dignity and freedom worldwide.”

“Under your leadership,” the pope continued, “may America’s stature continue to be measured above all by its concern for the poor, the outcast and those in need who, like Lazarus, stand before our door.”

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“With these sentiments,” the pope concluded, “I ask the Lord to grant you and your family, and all the beloved American people, his blessings of peace, concord and every material and spiritual prosperity.”

The pope’s hopes for U.S. global leadership on humanitarian issues under President Trump may be difficult to realize.

During his inaugural address, Mr. Trump repeated his campaign pledge that America’s interests would take top precedence in his administration.

“We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital and in every hall of power,” he said. “From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first—America first.”

Mr. Trump also promised “to unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth.” Pope Francis has consistently refused to equate Islam with terrorism.

Mr. Trump and Pope Francis have never met, but the pair clashed in 2015 over the president’s campaign promises to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In February 2015, following a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border, the pope said in response to a question from a journalist that politicians who propose building walls instead of bridges are “not Christian,” leading to objections from the Trump campaign. The Vatican later clarified the remark, saying that the pope was not speaking about specific candidates.

(Curiously, the Rev. Robert Jeffress, the pastor invited by the Trump inauguration committee to preach to the president-elect during a private service on Friday morning, riffed on a passage from the Old Testament, saying, “You see, God is NOT against building walls!”)

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More recently, just days before Americans headed to the polls, the pope delivered a passionate speech in which he urged the world not to succumb to the politics of fear, which many interpreted as a rebuke to Mr. Trump’s campaign rhetoric.

“Because fear—as well as being a good deal for the merchants of arms and death—weakens and destabilizes us, destroys our psychological and spiritual defenses, numbs us to the suffering of others,” the pope said.

“In the end,” he continued, “it makes us cruel.”

The pope went on to describe the refugee crisis “a problem of the world” and urged political leaders to do more.

On the issue of migration more generally, Francis devoted several minutes of the speech to condemning “physical and social walls” that “close in some and exclude others.”

The full text of the pope’s message to President Trump:

The Honorable Donald Trump

President of the United States of America

The White House

Washington, DC

Upon your inauguration as the forty-fifth President of the United States of America, I offer you my cordial good wishes and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high office. At a time when our human family is beset by grave humanitarian crises demanding farsighted and united political responses, I pray that your decisions will be guided by the rich spiritual and ethical values that have shaped the history of the American people and your nation’s commitment to the advancement of human dignity and freedom worldwide. Under your leadership, may America’s stature continue to be measured above all by its concern for the poor, the outcast and those in need who, like Lazarus, stand before our door. With these sentiments, I ask the Lord to grant you and your family, and all the beloved American people, his blessings of peace, concord and every material and spiritual prosperity.

FRANCISCUS PP.

This story includes updates.

Michael O’Loughlin is the national correspondent for America and author of The Tweetable Pope: A Spiritual Revolution in 140 Characters. Follow him on Twitter at @mikeoloughlin.