Pope Francis said Monday that migrants represent all those who are excluded, oppressed, and marginalized in today’s society.
In his annual message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, the pope offered a series of reflections revolving around the theme: “It is not just about migrants.”
It’s not just about migrants, he said. It’s about “our fears”; it’s about “charity”; it’s about “our humanity”; it’s about “seeing that no one is excluded”; it’s about “putting the last in the first place”; it’s about “the whole person, about all people”; it’s about “building the city of God and man”; it’s about “all of us, and about the present and future of the human family.”
“The most economically advanced societies are witnessing a growing trend towards extreme individualism which, combined with a utilitarian mentality and reinforced by the media, is producing a ‘globalization of indifference,’” the pope said.
Lawmakers scramble after Trump derails bid to revive key counterterrorism tool days after FBI thwarts UFC plot
Supreme Court unanimously strikes down gun law used to prosecute Hunter Biden
Jason Whitlock: Gregg Popovich’s ‘Communist’ Politics Gave Spurs Star a ‘Victim’ Mentality
‘I’m Going to Rip Your Teeth Out’: UK Code Enforcement Officer Freaks Out During Mohammed Discussion
Interior Department heralds algae treatment in Reflecting Pool, comparing it to ‘destroyed’ Iranian navy
LDS church celebrates delivering 6.5M meals across all 50 states for America250 anniversary
Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann kept ‘Dexter’-style kill room but wasn’t as smart as he thought: DA
Several Trump-Endorsed Candidates Score Big Primary Wins, One Suffers a Close Loss
Hegseth announces 6-month review of American forces in Europe, blasts NATO allies for putting troops ‘at risk’
MLB accused of ‘double standard’ after calling out players’ Bible messages despite backing BLM in 2020
Race Hustlers Are About to Scream About Police Shooting This Little Boy – Don’t Let Them Start in the Middle of the Story
Iran peace deal inspires little celebration as US banks on ‘good behavior’ and ‘understanding’ from Tehran
Florida couple reaches agreement with daughter’s biological parents after alleged IVF mix-up
Florida court says 18-year-olds have same gun rights as other adults
DHS moves all detainees out of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ amid hurricane concerns
“In this scenario, migrants, refugees, displaced persons and victims of trafficking have become emblems of exclusion,” he said. “In addition to the hardships that their condition entails, they are often looked down upon and considered the source of all society’s ills.”
“That is why it is not just about migrants,” he said. “When we show concern for them, we also show concern for ourselves, for everyone; in taking care of them, we all grow; in listening to them, we also give voice to a part of ourselves that we may keep hidden because it is not well regarded nowadays.”
In his message, the pope reiterated his conviction that resistance to mass migration is fueled by fear.
“The signs of meanness we see around us heighten our fear of ‘the other,’ the unknown, the marginalized, the foreigner,” he said. “We see this today in particular, faced with the arrival of migrants and refugees knocking on our door in search of protection, security and a better future.”
These doubts and fears “condition our way of thinking and acting to the point of making us intolerant, closed and perhaps even – without realizing it – racist,” he said. “In this way, fear deprives us of the desire and the ability to encounter the other, the person different from myself.”
Lawmakers scramble after Trump derails bid to revive key counterterrorism tool days after FBI thwarts UFC plot
Supreme Court unanimously strikes down gun law used to prosecute Hunter Biden
Jason Whitlock: Gregg Popovich’s ‘Communist’ Politics Gave Spurs Star a ‘Victim’ Mentality
‘I’m Going to Rip Your Teeth Out’: UK Code Enforcement Officer Freaks Out During Mohammed Discussion
Interior Department heralds algae treatment in Reflecting Pool, comparing it to ‘destroyed’ Iranian navy
LDS church celebrates delivering 6.5M meals across all 50 states for America250 anniversary
Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann kept ‘Dexter’-style kill room but wasn’t as smart as he thought: DA
Several Trump-Endorsed Candidates Score Big Primary Wins, One Suffers a Close Loss
Hegseth announces 6-month review of American forces in Europe, blasts NATO allies for putting troops ‘at risk’
MLB accused of ‘double standard’ after calling out players’ Bible messages despite backing BLM in 2020
Race Hustlers Are About to Scream About Police Shooting This Little Boy – Don’t Let Them Start in the Middle of the Story
Iran peace deal inspires little celebration as US banks on ‘good behavior’ and ‘understanding’ from Tehran
Florida couple reaches agreement with daughter’s biological parents after alleged IVF mix-up
Florida court says 18-year-olds have same gun rights as other adults
DHS moves all detainees out of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ amid hurricane concerns
“Migrants, especially those who are most vulnerable, help us to read the ‘signs of the times,’” he said in conclusion. “Through them, the Lord is calling us to conversion, to be set free from exclusivity, indifference and the throw-away culture.”
While the pope and many European bishops have focused on open-heartedness in welcoming migrants, two African bishops — a Nigerian and a Guinean — have spoken out against mass migration, insisting that it is detrimental to their people.
Nigerian Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the archbishop of Abuja, said earlier this month that mass migration out of his country is a sure sign that political leadership has failed.
“Authorities should make Nigeria home. Same should be applicable to other African countries,” he said.
Having visited Italy and seen the number of Nigerian prostitutes on the streets of Rome and other cities as a result of mass migration, the cardinal said he was ashamed.
Lawmakers scramble after Trump derails bid to revive key counterterrorism tool days after FBI thwarts UFC plot
Supreme Court unanimously strikes down gun law used to prosecute Hunter Biden
Jason Whitlock: Gregg Popovich’s ‘Communist’ Politics Gave Spurs Star a ‘Victim’ Mentality
‘I’m Going to Rip Your Teeth Out’: UK Code Enforcement Officer Freaks Out During Mohammed Discussion
Interior Department heralds algae treatment in Reflecting Pool, comparing it to ‘destroyed’ Iranian navy
LDS church celebrates delivering 6.5M meals across all 50 states for America250 anniversary
Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann kept ‘Dexter’-style kill room but wasn’t as smart as he thought: DA
Several Trump-Endorsed Candidates Score Big Primary Wins, One Suffers a Close Loss
Hegseth announces 6-month review of American forces in Europe, blasts NATO allies for putting troops ‘at risk’
MLB accused of ‘double standard’ after calling out players’ Bible messages despite backing BLM in 2020
Race Hustlers Are About to Scream About Police Shooting This Little Boy – Don’t Let Them Start in the Middle of the Story
Iran peace deal inspires little celebration as US banks on ‘good behavior’ and ‘understanding’ from Tehran
Florida couple reaches agreement with daughter’s biological parents after alleged IVF mix-up
Florida court says 18-year-olds have same gun rights as other adults
DHS moves all detainees out of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ amid hurricane concerns
“To tell you bluntly I’m ashamed, I’m ashamed,” he told the BBC. “I’m moving through the streets of Rome, Milan, Naples and I see my daughters on the street on sale.”
“I’m ashamed and I stop and even greet some of them — you can’t even engage them in conversation because they were brought out of the village illiterates. All they learn and all they know on the streets of Italy is what they need for this business — I’m ashamed.”
According to reports, some 80 percent of Nigerian women who have arrived on Italian shores wind up in prostitution, usually by force, and currently one of every two prostitutes in Italy is Nigerian. Many young Nigerian women are enticed into traveling to Italy with promises of honest work only to find that they are expected to sell themselves on the streets.
Onaiyekan’s words on immigration echoed those of Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, the head of the Vatican’s liturgical department, who said last month that the Church should not be encouraging migration.
It is wrong to “use the word of God to promote migration,” he said, and using the Bible to encourage migration is a “false interpretation.” It is better “to help people flourish in their culture than to encourage them to come to Europe,” he said.
Lawmakers scramble after Trump derails bid to revive key counterterrorism tool days after FBI thwarts UFC plot
Supreme Court unanimously strikes down gun law used to prosecute Hunter Biden
Jason Whitlock: Gregg Popovich’s ‘Communist’ Politics Gave Spurs Star a ‘Victim’ Mentality
‘I’m Going to Rip Your Teeth Out’: UK Code Enforcement Officer Freaks Out During Mohammed Discussion
Interior Department heralds algae treatment in Reflecting Pool, comparing it to ‘destroyed’ Iranian navy
LDS church celebrates delivering 6.5M meals across all 50 states for America250 anniversary
Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann kept ‘Dexter’-style kill room but wasn’t as smart as he thought: DA
Several Trump-Endorsed Candidates Score Big Primary Wins, One Suffers a Close Loss
Hegseth announces 6-month review of American forces in Europe, blasts NATO allies for putting troops ‘at risk’
MLB accused of ‘double standard’ after calling out players’ Bible messages despite backing BLM in 2020
Race Hustlers Are About to Scream About Police Shooting This Little Boy – Don’t Let Them Start in the Middle of the Story
Iran peace deal inspires little celebration as US banks on ‘good behavior’ and ‘understanding’ from Tehran
Florida couple reaches agreement with daughter’s biological parents after alleged IVF mix-up
Florida court says 18-year-olds have same gun rights as other adults
DHS moves all detainees out of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ amid hurricane concerns
The cardinal denounced the Church’s push for migration into Europe in powerful language, insisting that most immigrants wind up in Europe “without work or dignity” and assume the condition of slaves.
“Is that what the Church wants?” he asked, adding that the Church should not support “this new form of slavery that is mass migration.”
Several days later, the cardinal went still further, saying that a Church of migration and ecology is “of interest to no one” and that it risks becoming just another NGO if it focuses on these “horizontal” issues rather than preaching Jesus Christ.
Story cited here.
