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.

UN chief accuses US of ditching international law as Trump blasts global bodies

Oops: Leader of Anti-ICE Church Invasion Just Made Prosecutors’ Job a Lot Easier

Bruce Springsteen Pauses Concert to Deliver Vulgar Anti-ICE Message

Prominent Catholic bishop slams anti-ICE agitators who disrupted MN church service: ‘Unacceptable’

Anti-ICE agitators disrupt Minnesota church, shout down worshippers during Sunday service

Retired South Carolina couple found dead in homicides at home

BREAKING: DOJ to Charge Don Lemon Under the ‘KKK Act’ for Inciting Church Raid

Trump warns US can no longer think ‘purely of peace’ as he pushes for Greenland control

Noem hammers Walz, Frey for ignoring 1,360 ICE detainers for criminal illegal aliens

Gut-Punch: Image of Man Comforting Little Boy During Leftist Attack on Christians Should Be Seared Onto Our Brains Forever

Breaking: DOJ Confirms Charges Are Coming for Don Lemon and Anti-ICE Agitators Who Invaded Church

FBI responds to theft of conservative journalist’s camera by activists in Minneapolis

Elon Musk pours a staggering $10M into Kentucky Senate race, backing pro-Trump business outsider

The Lincoln Project continues to enrich leaders as its co-founder wants $100 million more

Alert: Maryland Dems Introduce Bill to Ban All ICE Agents Hired Under Trump from Ever Serving in Law Enforcement Again

“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.”