Peace is aided by "bridges" not "walls" Pope Francis said on Monday in an interview with leading Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
"Bridges endure and help build peace. Walls do not. They appear to defend us but in fact they just separate us," Francis told Corriere.
"For this reason, they should be knocked down. In any case they are destined to fall, one after another," he continued.
"We only need to think of the Berlin Wall. It seemed eternal but then it came tumbling down in a day," Francis said.
He was referring to the barrier that divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989 and completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding communist East Germany and from East Berlin.
"Step by step, we reach the point where we can reach across and shake the hand of the person on the other side," Francis said.
