Pope Francis said he’ll "wait and see" how President Donald Trump leads, before forming an opinion about the new president.
“I think that we must wait and see,” Francis said in an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais, according to Reuters. “I don’t like to get ahead of myself nor judge people prematurely.”
“We will see how he acts, what he does, and then I will have an opinion,” he added. “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.”
Francis offered the 45th president his congratulations in an open letter, according to CNN.
Francis congratulated Trump on the start of his presidential term and encouraged him to think about the country’s values as he serves the American people as their commander-in-chief for the next four years.
“Upon your inauguration as the forty-fifth President of the United States of America, I offer you my cordial good wishes and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high office,” Francis said in the letter, according to CNN.
“At a time when our human family is beset by grave humanitarian crises demanding farsighted and united political responses, I pray that your decisions will be guided by the rich spiritual and ethical values that have shaped the history of the American people and your nation’s commitment to the advancement of human dignity and freedom worldwide,” he continued.
Despite being congratulatory toward Trump, the Pope warned people that they must be careful not to expect world leaders to be their “savior in times of crisis,” the Daily Mail noted.
Francis brought up Adolf Hitler, saying the Nazi leader “was voted for by the people and then he destroyed the people” in the 1930s.