He made the comments as Donald Trump was being sworn-in as US president in a wide-ranging interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais.

The Pope condemned the use of walls and barbed-wire to keep foreigners out.

But he said it was too early to judge the new US leader, saying "we`ll see what Trump does".

Mr Trump has caused controversy with his comments on Mexican immigrants and his plans for a wall to keep them out.

Can Trump deliver on his promises?
Asked if he was worried about the rise of populism in Europe and the US, the Pope said: "Crises provoke fear, alarm. In my opinion, the most obvious example of European populism is Germany in 1933.

"Germany is broken, it needs to get up, to find its identity, a leader, someone capable of restoring its character, and there is a young man named Adolf Hitler who says: "I can, I can".

"And all Germans vote for Hitler. Hitler didn`t steal the power, his people voted for him, and then he destroyed his people."

On Mr Trump, the Pope said he would "wait and see".

"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.

The pair publically disagreed during the presidential campaign, with Pope Francis appearing to question Mr Trump`s Christian faith over his plans to build a border wall with Mexico.

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