Pope Francis: Migrant Children Must Be ‘Welcomed And Protected’

[Fred Sanders]

Source: AP/ThinkProgress

Pope Francis directly addressed the growing crisis surrounding unaccompanied children on the U.S. border this morning, speaking up on behalf of the young immigrants and calling on the international community to do more to care for their needs.

In a message sent to the Mexico-Holy See Colloquium on Migration and Development, the first Argentinian pope called for an immediate humanitarian response for the roughly 50,000 unaccompanied minors who have crossed the U.S. border this year.

“I would also like to draw attention to the tens of thousands of children who migrate alone, unaccompanied, to escape poverty and violence: This is a category of migrants from Central America and Mexico itself who cross the border with the United States under extreme conditions and in pursuit of a hope that in most cases turns out to be vain,” he said. “They are increasing day by day. This humanitarian emergency requires, as a first urgent measure, these children be welcomed and protected.”

Francis also noted that, in addition to a robust relief effort by those on the U.S. side of the border, the international community should also move to address the vicious cycles of violence and poverty that are spurring the children to flee their countries of origin.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2014/07/15/3460230/pope-francis-unaccompanied-children/

---

How will the refugee adverse Republicans handle this now?

[lark]

1. Catholic church is totally ignored by Repugs in general.

Ever the SCOTUS only cares about their religion when it comes to controlling women, otherwise they don't give a F***. Money and power are all they really care about. In their eyes, the poor aren't rich, so aren't worthy.

[Fred Sanders]

2. The Catholic Church owns Fox News by proxy, they own the Supreme Court, they are a majority in

Congress, Republicans in Congress are 100% Christian now.

It is ignoring the message of THIS Pope. It is ignoring the message of this Pope's version of Jesus.

It is what it is, creeping fascism.

The article also says that the Pope is considering going to the border, the refugees are all devout Catholic...that would be awesome.

I remember when he went to Palestine to visit the refugee camps there in May, barely covered in the media in America, with the same message of Christian compassion.

[jeff47]

7. Christian is not Catholic.

There's 163 Catholics in Congress. There's 299 Protestants.

http://www.pewforum.org/2012/11/16/faith-on-the-hill-the-religious-composition-of-the-113th-congress/

If the Pope says to do something, those 299 Protestants respond with "fuck you".

[Fred Sanders]

11. My error, the numbers are interesting.

[jwirr]

14. Unless they are rw and he says something they like.

[pnwmom]

9. Catholics aren't a majority in Congress and the Church doesn't own Fox news.

The "Christian" Rethugs in Congress have never shared the Catholic belief in social justice.

A small but influential group of right-wing Catholics have aligned themselves with evangelicals, particularly on "life" issues. This group of Catholics want to consider themselves, and want other people to consider them, the "real" Catholics. But millions of progressive Catholics disagree, and they are just as "real."

[Bluenorthwest]

12. Most US Christians are not Catholic.

The Pope's entire American political effort is tied to the Anti Choice and Anti Gay movements, he and his various US Bishops and Cardinals are activists in the anti choice and anti gay movements, all of their allies are Republicans. Many US Catholics are Democrats in spite of how their Church is, that's their own thing to explain but that's how it is.

[lark]

19. Right, I wasn't thinking Catholic hegemony church, I was thinking of the pope.

I tend to think of that religion in terms of who's currently in charge - aka the Pope. The Repug party totally ignores anything the pope says about the poor because they don't give a shit. I also totally suspect that a lot of the leaders there also don't give a rat's ass about anything other than controlling women, protecting their own privelges and supporting big money.

[earthside]

3. I wonder when the Vatican's check will show up.

Talk is cheap, Francis.

El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are all majority Roman Church countries -- perhaps tending to his own garden might be a place to begin instead of telling us what we ought to be doing?

[Fred Sanders]

4. He is telling you to till compassion,you do not have to.

[SwankyXomb]

6. Right after the 2% of pedophile priests

march into police stations, surrender themselves, and give full confessions.

[Fred Sanders]

10. 2% might well be less than the percentage in the general male population, I think he may have

been taken out of context. He has a huge mess to clean up, like President Obama inherited in 2009,
progress is being made just in the fact he openly discuss and acknowledges the problem.

He is saying all the right things, it is a good start.

[littlemissmartypants]

21. HA!!! eom

[thucythucy]

37. To be fair, there has been a lot of Catholic activism

for social justice in Central America. Some of the original Sandinistas were Catholic priests, while Liberation Theology priests and nuns were targeted for murder and rape by the death squads OUR government supported in the 1980s in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Bishop Romero was shot down by a death squad on the steps of the cathedral in San Salvador--a death squad then attacked those attending his funeral. And remember the four American nuns raped and murdered in 1980, the ones Alexander Haig suggested were "killed in an exchange of gun fire."?

Talk IS cheap, but putting your life and body on the line for social justice can be pretty expensive.

Then again, the Vatican has more often than not undermined these local efforts, especially under JP II and Benedict, who both hated Liberation Theology with a passion.

It'll be interesting to see if this changes any under the new guy.

[theHandpuppet]

47. Perhaps some history of Francis' history under the Argentinian junta...

... would enlighten us all... but perhaps not in a flattering way.

[rug]

50. Google this.

[rpannier]

5. How will the refugee adverse Republicans handle this now? Simple

He's a Socialist
He's not an American
"I go to Church to save my soul." - Stuart Varney (Jim Varney's stupid brother)
He hates America and job creators

At some pint we'll probably hear he's a secret Muslim

[24601]

36. A much more simple solution. As the Pope is also a head of State, he has apparently just invited

all the migrants to live in his empire.

[cntrygrl]

40. I thought the very same thing. n/t

[theHandpuppet]

48. Nah, they've got to save their real estate for guys like this

http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/cardinal-o-brien-living-in-northumberland-house-1-3479005
Cardinal O’Brien ‘living in Northumberland house’
by STEPHEN McGINTY
16 July, 2014

THE disgraced Cardinal Keith O’Brien is now living in a £200,000 house in England bought for him by the current Archbishop of Edinburgh and St Andrews.

Archbishop Leo Cushley purchased the home in Northumberland in January and Cardinal O’Brien moved in shortly afterwards. It had been thought that O’Brien had been living in a monastery in Northumberland, after completing a period of ‘penance’ ordered by the Pope.

The Cardinal, who is currently the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Vatican, was forced to resign in February 2013 after three serving priests and one former priest come forward with allegations of ‘inappropriate behaviour’...

...A spokesman for the Archdiocese of of St. Andrews and Edinburgh said; “Cardinal O’Brien remains a retired priest of the Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh. Like him, some retired clergy have accommodation bought for their use, although such properties are always owned by the diocese. This is the case with the house arranged for Cardinal O’Brien. Its location is in accordance with the agreement between him and the Holy See. The details of the transaction are a matter of public record and its price was within the cost range of other purchases for retired clergy housing.”

[jillan]

8. Unfortunately the only Pope the goopers listen to is Pope Hobby Lobby.

They don't care about the teachings of Christ, only the teachings of the dollar.

[Bluenorthwest]

13. Francis met and coordinated with the Hobby Lobby family. He blessed them for their efforts

to bring an end to reproductive choice. This is why attempts to use a conservative religious figure who is in fact the world's leading anti choice activist and anti gay hate preacher as an example of compassion are poorly thought out.
The Pope is Pope Hobby Lobby.

[jillan]

16. OMG I don't know why I should even be surprised. aaargh!!

[SunSeeker]

18. So true.

He gave them a 30 minute audience.

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/03/31/hobby-lobbys-green-family-meets-pope-francis/

[valerief]

15. Jesus Christ, don't turn over any kids to the church! nt

[La Lioness Priyanka]

17. here is someone, who at least seems vaguely familiar with the Bible

unlike the leaders of so many evangelical and megachurches

[SunSeeker]

20. The Catholic Church's anti-contraception teachings are exacerbating poverty in Central America.

If this Pope really cared about these kids' suffering, he would fight to make sure poor women were provided birth control, instead of slut shaming them for using it.

[bvf]

27. Amen to that from an atheist - eom

[okasha]

39. The Pope is not responsible

for the corporate fascism and the rigid class system prevalent in Central America. US industrialists are largely to blame for that.

The Pope isn't responsible for the drug cartels and related violence. Their customer base in the US is largely to blame for that.

[SunSeeker]

43. The Pope is responsible for pushing an anti-contraception message. nt

[littlemissmartypants]

22. The Pope is a misogynist. eom

[littlemissmartypants]

23. Childism. eom

[cleanhippie]

24. The RCC and the Pope are directly responsible for this mess.

Via the church's policy on contraception.

Wanna help solve the problem, pontiff? BE part of the solution. Talk is cheap.

[kiranon]

32. Agree. And, the Vatican could choose to accept a planeful of refugees

to live at the Vatican until they are grown and on their way. Children running through the Vatican may change a few minds on how odd it is not to have married priests who could understand families and why small families can do more for their children. Birth control is a necessity.

[cleanhippie]

35. Considering the pedophile priest problem the church has...

I'm not sure a bunch of children living in the Vatican would be appropriate.

[totodeinhere]

25. I'm glad to see that most posters in this thread are not falling for the Pope's BS.

He has exactly the same position that his predecessors had on contraception, abortion, women and priesthood and gay marriage. It's just that his handlers have decided that for the sake of public relations he will try to put on a smiley face. Don't be fooled by that.

[theHandpuppet]

46. Oh, we're not

We're also not fooled by the predictable appearance of some of DU's least woman-supportive posters, who always pop up to make sure Francis' critics can be dismissed as haters.

[MisterP]

26. presumably they'll shout "he's a Catholic!" no Rapture? no creationism? I bet they even think Jesus

didn't have a gun!

[MannyGoldstein]

28. I forget... Do we hate Pope Francis today?

Can somebody print up a schedule, or set up a GoogleNSA Calendar we can share with the days we hate on the Pope?

[Fred Sanders]

29. This should not be one of those days, I think. Hate hates to be limited.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

30. "How will the refugee adverse Republicans handle this now?"

Easy, go back to claiming the Pope is as bad as Obama.

[WestCoastLib]

31. If he's not telling us where and how to ejaculate, we aren't interested

Sincerely,
-Convervatives

[PeteSelman]

33. The Vatican has billions of dollars and real estate all over the world.

By all means, welcome and protect them Mr. Pope.

[Skittles]

34. he is correct

but, I have to add that the insane anti-birth control policies of this church have very much contributed to the poverty in much of the world

[thucythucy]

38. Largely true, but there is also a direct correlation

between extreme poverty, lack of health care overall, the absence of a social safety net, and large families.

If you don't have a social security system or any old age pension, then the only way you'll survive once you can't work any more is if your family takes care of you. Mainly, this means your children. And if half or more of your children are expected to die before they reach age five, then you want lots of kids to make sure at least of them survive until when you need them.

In more affluent countries, even those with majority Catholic populations, once mass poverty is eliminated people start using contraception no matter what the Church says. Look at France, Belgium, Austria. Hell, look at the US, where most Catholics pretty much ignore Church teachings on birth control.

It could only help, of course, if the Church leadership gave up their misogyny and homophobia and at least started acknowledging reality re: sex and contraception. So yeah, the Church does contribute to this problem. But so does American imperialism, from the occupation of Nicaragua in the 1920s and 30s, to the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Guatemala in the 1950s, to the US support of the Contras and death squads in the 80s, to US corporations and right wing thugs doing everything possible--including the worst kind of violence--to insure the workers don't unionize today. Then too, there's the little matter of our "war on drugs" that provides billions to the drug cartels that feed the violence and corruption that perpetuates mass poverty.

Didn't mean to lecture, but had to get that in. You can blame the Church (and the Vatican in particular) for a lot of this, but save some of the opprobrium for US voters who keep electing right wing creeps here who support right wing creeps there.

Best wishes.

[theHandpuppet]

44. Anti-woman dogma has a direct correlation to poverty

http://ncronline.org/blogs/grace-margins/contraception-philippines-and-pope-francis-passion-poor
"Pope Francis has been highly touted for his criticism of institutional evils that create poverty. But there is something deeply troubling about a church leadership that rails against poverty and institutional sin while using its resources to defeat civil laws aimed at alleviating the suffering of the poorest.
"If the pope and his brother bishops are to be fully honest about roots of poverty, they must take an honest look at the ways in which the policies and agenda of their institutional church contribute to inadequate medical care for mothers, the starvation of families, the swelling of the slum population, the spread of HIV/AIDS, and environmental degradation.
"I realize Pope Francis cannot change the contraception teaching overnight, but he could call the bishops of the Philippines to cease this relentless, well-funded campaign. The institutional church now stands as the lone impediment between poor Philippine mothers and adequate maternal health care. The hierarchy's lobbying has kept mothers and fathers from raising families they can afford, families small enough to allow children to be fed and educated...."

A little less hypocrisy would go a long way towards eradicating poverty.

[theHandpuppet]

45. By the way...

His Holiness just came out with another sermon denouncing reproductive choice as part of a "throwaway culture" but of course that seemed to fly under the radar.

[thucythucy]

49. I agree.

Less hypocrisy all around--from the Church and other religious groups, from the US government and corporations--especially from folks who consider themselves "Christians" but seem to worship money and profits.

It's a vicious cycle--the lack of decent services drives people to have large families (and prevents access to contraception even if they want it), which in turn exacerbates per family rates of poverty. The cure has to address all these issues.

Best wishes.

[dembotoz]

41. k and r

[apnu]

42. Am wondering, then, what Boehner and Paul Ryan have to say about the border crisis now. (nt)

[randys1]

51. Rightwing xtians hate Brown people, nothing else matters