Pope Francis is correct. Any person who consistently speaks of excluding people, who trumpets his desire to (literally) build more walls between communities, and who manifests a desire to increase division, is not walking the Christian way. For the desire for unity, for oneness, for community, is an essential part of the Christian worldview. Indeed, this is the concept that lies between “reconciliation,” of reuniting a person with God and with the larger community. It’s no surprise that one of the Pope’s traditional titles is “Pontifex Maximus,” the Great Bridge Builder. More basically, for the Christian there is no “other.” Jesus demonstrates this repeatedly in the Gospels, as he continually reaches out to those on the margins, and even prays in the Gospel of John “That they may be one.” For the Christian there is no “us” and “them.” There is only “we.”

Pope Francis is correct in another way as well. While the Pope didn’t address this aspect of Trump’s candidacy, the billionaire businessman has directed hatred against many a great many people—migrants of course, but also Mexicans, women, his fellow presidential candidates and on and on. This too is not of God. The kind of hatred that issues from Trump’s mouth–from anyone’s mouth–is not motivated by God. Hatred of this sort is motivated by evil–so is contempt for the poor. “Love your neighbor” is not a bumper sticker slogan; it’s an absolute requirement of the Christian life.