Pope Francis to EU: Tear Down Migrant Walls

And in a rhetorical flourish with echoes of Martin Luther-King’s legendary ‘I have a dream’ speech, the pope said he dreamed of a new European humanism that embraced the poor, the elderly, the young and the sick.

“I dream of a Europe where being a migrant is not a crime but a summons to greater commitment on behalf of the dignity of every human being,” he said.

“What has happened to you, the Europe of humanism, the champion of human rights, democracy and freedom?” he asked. “What has happened to you, Europe, the home of poets, philosophers, artists, musicians, and men and women of letters?”

Francis has made the cause of migrants trying to reach Europe one of the defining themes of his papacy.

He has regularly railed against the “indifference” of western societies to their plight and last month he made a high-profile visit to Lesbos, the Greek island on the frontline of the crisis, returning to the Vatican with three Syrian families seeking asylum from the civil war ravaging their homeland.

He has also attacked what he says is an arbitrary division being made between asylum seekers and so-called economic migrants — a distinction at the heart of Merkel and other EU leaders’ vision of how to resolve the crisis.

Francis went on to say Europe had to fundamentally change its economic model to give the continent’s youth the security they needed to build a new world.

“If we want to rethink our society, we need to create dignified and well-paying jobs, especially for our young people,” he said.

“To do so requires coming up with new, more inclusive and equitable economic models, aimed not at serving the few, but at benefiting ordinary people and society as a whole.

Pope Francis to date has invited a total of three Syrian families to come to the Vatican, although it is not clear if they have actually been given access to the fortress like Vatican City. It is one of the most tightly controlled locations in the world, with virtually no one gaining entry who does not have a clear invitation and reason for being there.  And certainly no Syrian family or family of some other extraction would be allowed in without being fully vetted and managed during their stay.

The Catholic Church is also one of the wealthiest church organizations in the world, but there is no evidence that Pope Francis has offered up any financial resources or support to the migrant families flooding in to European countries.

Talk is cheap, as they say, and Pope Francis seems anxious to tell others what they should do to solve the crisis of so many immigrants flooding into Western Europe, but he does not seem to be very willing to do anything to take care of the problem, least of all taking in fifty or five hundred or five thousand immigrants and supporting them financially.

Before Pope Francis criticizes Europe again, perhaps he should put his money where is mouth is and tear down the walls of Vatican City, welcome in the refugees regardless of their background, give them all apartments and jobs, and show the rest of the world how it is done. I think Pope Francis owes everyone an apology for his extreme hypocrisy and strong tendency to judge others without examining his own actions. I don’t think I will hold my breath until that happens.

Source: yahoo.com