So if you folks love it or hate it, you can of course scroll down at the end and leave your comments, or check out my bio and find out where to also leave some comments there.

I am a Catholic, but I'm not one of those Catholics who follow the book of Catholicism to the end of the end of the end, which means I do not believe that, in church matters, the Pope is infallible. The reason for this is quite simple: because of my extreme disappointment with how the church handled the sex scandals. It was extremely heartbreaking to me and forced me to question things harshly.

I believe that has allowed me, on occasion, to look at matters outside of the church, which I believe members of it should be involved in, the communities in which they live. The head of the Catholic Church, who, of course, is the Pope, does on occasion get involved and speak on matters that he feels should be brought to light, and Pope Francis was a bit of a heavyweight in this regard.

From the beginning of his Papacy, he made sure to keep the focus not just on himself but on the poor and the downtrodden, whom he felt close to. This, of course, is something that I feel all of the popes in my lifetime also shared, but Francis made it a point through his actions to constantly reinforce this idea.

The one area where the Pope was either misled or just got it wrong because of his personal belief was the criticism of the United States on the policy of illegal immigration. While he was a vocal critic during Trump's first term and also shared his disappointment in 2025, at the beginning of Trump's second term, he was also a critic, although more mildly, of the policy during Barack Obama's time in office.

The United States enforces immigration laws that were passed by Congress and signed by the president, whoever that was at the time, which are not overly harsh. The treatment of those who violate the law is also hardly the stuff that you would think about in a World War II internment camp. People making up stories like that are just doing so generally because they are severely misinformed or doing so for clickbait purposes.

So when I read this story about the funeral service for Pope Francis, I just shook my head at the unfortunate incompetence, still being uttered for show to the world, by the Cardinal conducting the service. 

In front of hundreds of world leaders attending the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re called for care for migrants, an end to wars, and action on global climate change – Francis’ favourite political themes.

Re repeated one of the pope’s strongest criticisms of U.S. President Donald Trump, with Trump himself present in the crowd, by calling to “build bridges, not walls”.

Trump and the pope exchanged criticisms over a decade, mostly related to the pope’s plea for compassion for migrants, a group Trump has repeatedly sought to deport.

Re’s sermon, heard by a global audience of millions, contained a strong political message for the national leaders and a strong internal message to the world’s Catholic cardinals.

So Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re has this right...

*an end to wars*: A good start.

*action on global climate change": Gonna have to say this is a bit shaky. 

Climate is always changing, and that is mostly God and His work. (Unless you are thinking about Lake Erie catching on fire in the early '70s, but I think we have one cleaned up.) However, if you are talking about anything that John Kerry and his ketchup heiress wife are supporting, no thanks. That is 100 percent a scam.

*care for migrants*: Pretty much since 1776, that has been what our country has been about. We sure have had some bumps along the way, but we strive to do better, and it has clearly resulted in people still wanting to come.

This part, though, where  Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re utters *Build bridges, not walls* is where I have to step in and throw a flag. 

The easy comment to make to the Cardinal is to say: "How brave of you to make that analysis and utter those words in the Vatican, which is a separate City inside the city of Rome, and has its own security system that has walls separating it from Rome. "That would be the super simple analysis.

The United States of America builds not only bridges in places where there were none before, but also builds them in places where natural disasters occurred. We also welcome those who want to come here, either temporarily or to become citizens, more so than any country in the world. The process for people to get here legally has been bogged down and has slowed those who genuinely want to come here and improve their lot in life. 

The solution to that is not encouraging a bumrush of people for four years like we had under the Catholic President Joe Biden, putting innocent people in danger, while paying those who are looking to take advantage of their eager willingness to get to America, no matter how or at any price it would take.

That's not bridge building, that is greed and insanity taking advantage of those who are naive and mostly innocent.

The building of walls, like at the Vatican part, as I mentioned above, is a little bit too easy, but I'll go a little more in-depth here.

The Vatican has walls, most countries have borders that have some sort of natural boundary or in some cases walls. The Pope's residence even though he did not occupy the traditional papal bedroom but stayed in the hotel like setting of where layman in the church that worked to the Vatican would stay had walls. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re Residence wherever that may be has walls.

Unless you are in prison, walls generally have doors that you can walk in and out of at any time. They also occasionally have Windows that enable you to look outside and see God's Splendor so that you can look at what He has created and appreciate and thank Him for allowing you to be where you are and have the gifts that He has put before you.

Donald Trump and his team have done the correct and humane thing by not allowing people to be taken advantage of by being human trafficked illegally into the United States. The policy enforcement is working, and we should be thankful in this country for that.

Hopefully, whoever the Cardinals in Rome pick in the Conclave to be the next Pope will be one that the Holy Spirit leads them to pick, and he does the Lord's will. That is my sincere and fervent prayer.

Also, I should note that the Cardinals will be led into a room and locked in until a new Pope is elected.

That room also has walls.