Pope Francis: Migrants and Refugees Are ‘Emblems of Exclusion’

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.

Popular Potato Product Faces Recall in 26 States

Can Trump Really Denaturalize Somalis En Masse?

GOP lawmaker renews oversight hearing request of DHS agencies following fatal shooting in Minneapolis

Meet the longtime biz partner of Ilhan Omar’s husband as questions swirl over her skyrocketing net worth

Anti-ICE Church Harasser Posted Profane, Ranting Video Before Arrest, Called to ‘Shut This Country Down’

Minnesota school board member Chauntyll Allen ripped by state lawmaker after anti-ICE church invasion arrest

ACLU seeks reinstated constraints on federal officers in Minnesota after Alex Pretti shooting

Narratives clash after Trump and victim’s family react to second Minneapolis ICE shooting

Neonatal Nurse Pleads No Contest to 9 Charges of Abusing Infants – Will Serve Disgraceful Sentence Despite Damning Video Evidence

Trump hails ‘great and very brave’ UK soldiers after slamming NATO allies’ Afghanistan service

Lutnick Rips Globalist Elites Straight to Their Faces for Pillaging the American Dream

European leaders insist ‘shifting international order’ is inevitable while holding out hope instability will pass

CNN Analyst: Even Most Democrat Voters Hate the Democratic Party

Gambling industry bankrolls members of Congress who push pro-gambling legislation

Judge blocks Trump admin from ‘destroying or altering’ evidence in deadly Minneapolis shooting

“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.”