Pope Francis Puts Focus on Refugees in Christmas Eve Mass
- 6 years ago
Pope Francis Puts Focus on Refugees in Christmas Eve Mass
Francis noted that dangers
" he said, adding that while some seek a better life, "for many others this departure can only have one name: survival." The pope, who recently turned 81, is in the fifth year of a papacy
that supporters and critics have both called "revolutionary." On Sunday night he made clear that the outcasts of the global periphery are front and center to his mission. that We see the tracks of millions of persons who do not choose to go away but, driven from their land, leave behind their dear ones,
Recalling that Mary gave birth to Jesus in a manger because "there was no place for them in the inn," Francis highlighted the biblical story in a present day in which the White House has restricted travel for people from predominantly Muslim countries, the Myanmar military has carried out ethnic cleansing against a stateless Rohingya minority,
and wars, human trafficking and the indifference of wealthy nations have resulted in millions of families languishing in squalid refugee camps.
In Bangladesh a few weeks ago, he spoke of neighboring Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya minority, saying, "The presence of God today is also called Rohingya." But on Sunday night in St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis further elevated the plight of the world’s castaways, saying
that their footsteps followed those trudged by Joseph and the pregnant Mary to the manger.
24, 2017
ROME — Pope Francis on Sunday used the Christmas Eve Mass
that amplifies his voice around the globe to focus on refugees and migrants, drawing a parallel between their travails and that of the holy family at the time of the birth of Jesus.
He has repeatedly called on Western nations to resist the pull of nationalism
— as well as the destabilizing fear of migrants — and to open their doors.
Francis noted that dangers
" he said, adding that while some seek a better life, "for many others this departure can only have one name: survival." The pope, who recently turned 81, is in the fifth year of a papacy
that supporters and critics have both called "revolutionary." On Sunday night he made clear that the outcasts of the global periphery are front and center to his mission. that We see the tracks of millions of persons who do not choose to go away but, driven from their land, leave behind their dear ones,
Recalling that Mary gave birth to Jesus in a manger because "there was no place for them in the inn," Francis highlighted the biblical story in a present day in which the White House has restricted travel for people from predominantly Muslim countries, the Myanmar military has carried out ethnic cleansing against a stateless Rohingya minority,
and wars, human trafficking and the indifference of wealthy nations have resulted in millions of families languishing in squalid refugee camps.
In Bangladesh a few weeks ago, he spoke of neighboring Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya minority, saying, "The presence of God today is also called Rohingya." But on Sunday night in St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis further elevated the plight of the world’s castaways, saying
that their footsteps followed those trudged by Joseph and the pregnant Mary to the manger.
24, 2017
ROME — Pope Francis on Sunday used the Christmas Eve Mass
that amplifies his voice around the globe to focus on refugees and migrants, drawing a parallel between their travails and that of the holy family at the time of the birth of Jesus.
He has repeatedly called on Western nations to resist the pull of nationalism
— as well as the destabilizing fear of migrants — and to open their doors.