The archbishop of New York said Wednesday he is confident Pope Francis — who has implicitly criticized Donald Trump in the past — spoke candidly with the President at their Vatican meeting.
“I would not be surprised at all if the Pope got his points across,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan told CNN’s Chris Cuomo Wednesday on “New Day.” “This is a man that’s come across as the greatest prophet and protection of the poor and vulnerable and marginalized throughout the world.”
“So, that he would speak of those values and principles, I’m sure he did,” Dolan added. “I think he does to every world leader. I think he especially would to the president of the strongest, mightiest power on the face of the earth.”
After the meeting, Trump told the Pope, “Thank you. I won’t forget what you said.”
Neither Trump nor the Pope revealed what their conversation entailed at their Wednesday meeting, but the Vatican said in a statement that the two men discussed “the promotion of peace in the world through political negotiation and interreligious dialogue” and focused on the need to protect Christians in the Middle East.
During the campaign, the Pope appeared to question Trump’s commitment to Christian values after he pledged to build a wall between the United States and Mexico.
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel,” the Pope told journalists in February 2016.
The Pope also has spoken out on issues related to refugees, the poor and war. Dolan said the religious leader and Trump have the potential to collaborate in a way that advances world peace.
“You got the leader of the greatest moral and spiritual authority of the world, the Pope, and the leader of the strongest, natural, earthy power,” he said. “That the two of them would work hand in glove and have more that brings them together than divides them. That’s good for world peace.”