The most interesting item of recent news has been the public spat between Mr. Trump and the pope. The former is no stranger to public spats, which have been omnipresent since his appearance on the political scene, and appear to be part of his desire to upset establishment figures. The pope however, at least to those of us who are not privy to the doings within the papal community, is a surprising entrant in such affairs. I am referring, of course to what the pope said in a press interview during which, we are led to believe, he was asked his opinion of those in the US who are in favor of building a super-Fence along the border with Mexico. His eminence responded to the effect that it would be better to build bridges rather than walls, and he identified the wall-builders as being lacking in Christianity. Mr. Trump saw this comment as an attack on him, he being a particularly vocal proponent of the border fence, and he replied that for the pope to question his faith is a disgraceful act. I am neither an admirer of the pope or of Mr. Trump but the contretemps has particular delight for me.

As I understand it, the pope, aka the vicar of Rome, is the head of the Roman Catholic church, the headquarters of which are sited within the walls of the Vatican, a city-state on the west bank of the river Tiber in Rome. Did you get that? Let me reiterate, I wrote “…within the walls of the Vatican…”. So this pope who regards wall-builders as being non-Christian is the head honcho of a Christian global operation that hides itself within walls. Moreover, I can personally testify that these walls are huge structures that are impermeable in the extreme. It seems that Francis is living in a glass house and is throwing stones.

Anyone who travels around Italy outside the tourist link connecting Rome to Florence and Venice will have noticed that Italian towns are surrounded by walls or vestiges thereof, testament to the needs of the inhabitants in former times to defend themselves from invaders intent on looting and pillaging. The Fence has a similar role except that these days the invaders are called immigrants who want to participate in the good life that Americans (most of them) enjoy. In my role as a fervent anti-religionist I am inclined to think that the walls of the Vatican are to prevent invasion, not by barbarians, but by ideas.