The row between Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Pope Francis continued today, with Trump weighing in from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

"They had him convinced that illegal immigration is like a wonderful thing - not wonderful for us. It's wonderful for Mexico. It's not wonderful for us," Trump said.

The Vatican today tried to tamp down a firestorm ignited by Pope Francis' comments, assailing Donald Trump's views on US immigration as "not Christian", assuring the Republican presidential front-runner that it was not a personal attack or attempt to influence the US campaign.

Pope Francis told reporters during a conversation on his flight home from Mexico yesterday, "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian."

Trump has said if elected president, he would build a wall along the US-Mexican border to keep immigrants from illegally entering the United States.

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