“We see, for example, how quickly those among us with the status of a stranger, an immigrant, or a refugee, become a threat, take on the status of an enemy. An enemy because they come from a distant country or have different customs. An enemy because of the color of their skin, their language or their social class. An enemy because they think differently or even have a different faith.”
This is outstandingly disingenuous, and simply reflects the talking points of the European and North American elites — that opposition to the Muslim migrant influx is a manifestation of “racism” and “xenophobia,” when it is really a concern about jihad terror. Pope Francis would apparently prefer that Europeans and North Americans be murdered in jihad attacks than that Muslim migration be slowed or halted in an attempt to prevent this.
“Leave them; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14)
“The pope has spoken out against an ‘epidemic of animosity’ against immigrants and other faiths,” by Philip Pullella, Reuters, November 19, 2016:
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Saturday said an “epidemic of animosity” against people of other races or religions was hurting the weakest in society, as he struck a note of caution against the rise of populist nationalism.
Little more than a week after Donald Trump was elected the next U.S. president, buoying anti-immigrant parties in Europe and elsewhere, the pope said people should not be seen as enemies just because they were different.
“We see, for example, how quickly those among us with the status of a stranger, an immigrant, or a refugee, become a threat, take on the status of an enemy,” Francis said at a ceremony to induct new cardinals.
“An enemy because they come from a distant country or have different customs. An enemy because of the color of their skin, their language or their social class. An enemy because they think differently or even have a different faith,” he said.
While not naming any country, Francis appeared to refer to the anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim attitudes that surfaced during the U.S. campaign and since the election.
The U.S. Justice Department said on Friday it was investigating reports of intimidation and harassment, including in schools and churches since the election.
“How many wounds grow deeper due to this epidemic of animosity and violence, which leaves its mark on the flesh of many of the defenseless, because their voice is weak and silenced by this pathology of indifference,” the pope said.
The Church itself was not immune to “a virus of polarization and animosity,” he said, an apparent reference to a public challenge to the pope by four conservative cardinals, who accused him of sowing confusion on important moral issues…