‘Sterile Hypocrisy’ Behind Mistreatment of Migrants, Pope Says

The Catholic Herald (UK) ^ | 7/7/18 | Junno Arocho Esteves

[marshmallow]

Pope Francis thanked Mediterranean migrant rescue teams for 'embodying the parable of the Good Samaritan'

Hearts that are closed to welcoming migrants and refugees are similar to those of the Pharisees, who often would preach sacrifice and following God’s law without exercising mercy to those in need, Pope Francis said.

Jesus’s rebuke of the Pharisees’ “insidious murmuring” is “a finger pointed at the sterile hypocrisy of those who do not want to ‘dirty their hands,’ like the priest or the Levite in the parable of the good Samaritan,” the Pope said in his homily on July 6 during a Mass commemorating the fifth anniversary of his visit to the southern Mediterranean island of Lampedusa.

“This is a temptation powerfully present in our own day. It takes the form of closing our hearts to those who have the right – just as we do – to security and dignified living conditions. It builds walls, real or virtual, rather than bridges,” he said.

According to the Vatican, an estimated 200 migrants, refugees and rescue volunteers attended the Mass, which was celebrated at the altar of St Peter’s Basilica. Pope Francis greeted each person present after the Mass ended.

In his homily, the Pope recalled his visit to Lampedusa and repeated “that timeless appeal to human responsibility, ‘Where is your brother? His blood cries out to me.'”

Sadly, he said, “the response to this appeal, even if at times generous, has not been enough, and we continue to grieve thousands of deaths.”

[Buckeye McFrog]

Refusing to let them live in your country illegally is not “mistreating” them.

[Leaning Right]

> By Italian law, nothing in Rome may exceed the height of St. Peter’s dome. <

But is the Pope constrained by Italian law?

[Marchmain]

Ha, the pope thinks he’s not constrained by any law! Well, maybe the law if gravity.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

But he could build it inside Vatican City.