Not everyone was pleased when Pope Francis decided to settle his hotel bill in person the day after his election. “I don’t like seeing the Pope standing at the checkout counter of a hotel in order to pay his bill,” one hotel magnate tweeted. “It’s not Pope-like!” But a few months later, this critic had warmed to the Holy Father. “The new Pope is a humble man,” he concluded, “very much like me, which probably explains why I like him so much!”
Many would dispute Donald Trump’s claim that Pope Francis is “very much” like him. They differ on immigration, climate change, capitalism, nuclear weapons, military spending, the United Nations, US-Cuba relations and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – not to mention religious matters. Their positions contrast so sharply that both the New Yorker and the New York Times have dubbed Francis “the anti-Trump”. Many predict that, if the two men meet face to face next month as rumoured, there will be ructions.
