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Pope Francis Recalls Hitler While Talking About Donald Trump

By Nick Younker
Published on: 12:50 PST, Jan 22, 2017

Pope Francis has been a really popular pope since his views on world affairs have been more closely aligned with that of liberals, or supporters of left-leaning government. His sentiments also seem to echo the claims of liberals across the world that have likened the rise of Donald Trump to that of World War II criminal and Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.

For months now, people in the United States have compared Donald Trump to Hitler, Stalin, and many other fascist regime leaders throughout the 20th century that have been demonized in history books and popular culture, with good reason.

For everyday people to make the connection between Donald Trump and Hitler, it’s fairly routine and the accusations actually get tossed from both sides of the aisle about one another. But when a world spiritual leader like Pope Francis likens the election of Donald Trump as the U.S. president to Hitler, as reported by Newsweek, then it seems to take on a whole new meaning.

“Crises provoke fear, alarm. In my opinion, the most obvious example of European populism is Germany in 1933… A people that was immersed in a crisis, that looked for its identity until this charismatic leader came and promised to give their identity back, and he gave them a distorted identity, and we all know what happened,” Pope Francis told Spanish newspaper El Pais, as translated by Newsweek. “In times of crisis, we lack judgment, and that is a constant reference for me. That is why I always try to say: talk among yourselves, talk to one another.”

But as most might know, it is still a little too early to judge Donald Trump and compare his actions to that of Adolf Hitler, especially since all of these judgments have been based on his rhetoric thus far (and on the campaign trail) and he has not had a chance to actually employ some of the actions that a fascist leader like Hitler did.

That is also something that is not lost on Pope Francis as well. Instead of condemning Donald Trump for his possible actions, he has instead decided to reserve such judgments until they actually occur.

“I think that we must wait and see. I don’t like to get ahead of myself nor judge people prematurely,” Pope Francis said. “We will see how he (Donald Trump) acts, what he does, and then I will have an opinion. But being afraid or rejoicing beforehand because of something that might happen is, in my view, quite unwise. It would be like prophets predicting calamities.”

But there is an inherent message that Pope Francis seemed to be trying to get through to his followers, as reported by RT, which is something that left-leaning critics and observers have been saying for years now. That is the warning against populism and how it affects society as a whole.

“Hitler did not steal power,” Pope Francis said. “He was elected by his people and then he destroyed his people.”

So if Pope Francis intended that message to be a warning, then there really is no way of stopping the dreaded demise of a democratic nation, if it were indeed what Donald Trump’s presidency would do.

But in today’s society, the demise of democracy in the oldest nation in the world to have it, that would essentially be impossible unless a few key factors were to take place. That would include a major threat to the state and its civilian residents, or a security risk to the economic stability of a state that could essentially collapse the nation’s economy.

If that is the warning that Pope Francis is giving to his people against populism, then the continued rights of the free press are more vital now than ever before. But again, only time will tell if that is an issue.

[Featured Image by Franco Origlia/Getty Images]

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