Pope Francis has said Donald Trump's plan to deport illegal immigrants from the US would be a "shame" if it were to come to fruition.
According to foreign media, speaking on an Italian television program from his residence in the Vatican, Pope Francis said that if the plans were to come to fruition, Trump would be committing a 'miserable deed without any benefit.'
"This is not fair. You don't solve problems like this," he said, A2 CNN writes.
Trump has promised to begin the largest deportation of undocumented immigrants in US history immediately after taking office.
In a message to Trump on Monday, Pope Francis offered him "cordial greetings" and urged him to lead a society "without space for hatred, discrimination or exclusion" and to promote "peace and reconciliation among peoples."
The Pope is known to hold the issue of migrants dear. During a public audience last August, he said that "systematically working with all means to expel migrants" was "a grave sin."
In 2016, before Trump's first presidential election, Pope Francis said that "a person who thinks only about building walls... and not about building bridges, is not a Christian."
Referring to Trump's promise to build a wall on the border with Mexico to prevent migrants from traveling to the US, Francis said: "I only say that this man is not a Christian if he said such things."
Pope Francis and Trump later met when Trump and his family visited Rome in 2017. (A2 Televizion)
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