A controversial, life-size mural depicting a "satanic" President Donald Trump kissing Pope Francis has has appeared on a wall near the Vatican -- just two weeks before the two are scheduled to meet.
The mural, which was painted on paper and pasted on to the wall during the night, shows the pontiff, wearing a simple crucifix around his neck, embracing Trump, who wears a gold watch and sprouts devil's horns.
The caption written on the sash of the Pope's cassock reads "The Good Forgives the Evil", and the mural is signed "TVBoy," who is believed to be Italian street artist Salvatore Benintende.
The Telegraph notes that a number of murals depicting the Pope have appeared in Rome in recent months; however, they are eventually are taken down by a special group of Rome sanitation workers known as "The Decorum Squad".
In the past, the squad has erased a mural depicting the pope as a sneaky graffiti artist painting peace signs on walls and another showing him as the comic book hero Superman.
The two men are due to meet at the Vatican on May 24 while the president is on a tour Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy and Belgium, suggesting their previously icy relationship may have thawed. In the past, Pope Francis has openly critized Trump, particularly over his southern border wall.
"A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel," said the Pope.
Trump promptly hit back, calling Francis' comments "disgraceful."
"No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man's religion or faith," he said in statement. Trump added that the government in Mexico had "made many disparaging remarks about me to the Pope."
"If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS's ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president," Trump said.
At the time, Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, told The Gospel Herald that while people have "great respect" for Francis, they shouldn't look to him for advice on national security.
"I think Protestants and Catholics share a belief in the desire to keep America safe," he said. "I think the pontiff is sincere, but I think he's sincerely wrong in saying it's un-Christian to build walls. God told Nehemiah to build a wall around Jerusalem, not to keep the Jews from going outside, but to keep the enemies from coming inside. I think most Americans do know that and they want America kept safe."
Jeffress added that the brief spat between the Pope and the billionaire businessman allowed Americans to "see another side" of Trump: "He was kind of measured in his response and said, 'I think the pope is a great guy.' Donald Trump turning the other cheek -- who'd have thought they would have seen that."
