Pope: Kids Crossing US Border Illegally Should Be ‘Welcomed’

The Boston Globe ^ | July 15, 2014 | Shannon McMahon

[2ndDivisionVet]

In a Monday letter to a Mexico City Vatican conference, Pope Francis wrote that the tens of thousands of Central American children illegally crossing into the United States should be “welcomed and protected.”

Just days after President Obama visited Texas and pledged a solution to the US border crisis, the Pope said migrant children’s human rights are being violated.

“Many people forced to emigrate suffer, and often, die tragically,” he said. “Many of their rights are violated. They are obliged to separate from their families and, unfortunately, continue to be the subject of racist and xenophobic attitudes.” The Pope also advocated that nations advocate development in the Central American countries people are fleeing....

[SkyDancer]

Agree - He can pontificate on all the church matters he wants to but he should leave his personal opinions to himself ...

[BlatherNaut]

"They are obliged to separate from their families and, unfortunately, continue to be the subject of racist and xenophobic attitudes.”

Is that you, Cardinal O'Malley?

It's obvious from whom Pope Francis is getting his talking points. "Xenophobic" is one of the Cardinal's favorite slurs on those who believe our nation has the right to defend its borders from invasions such as this.

[GeronL]

do you think the Vatican would welcome a few hundred thousand new residents??

[BlatherNaut]

do you think the Vatican would welcome a few hundred thousand new residents??

Highly doubtful.

"At least one illegal immigrant — brought to Massachusetts from Texas by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — is in a hospital with 24-hour surveillance, according to Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson, who is responsible for holding about 80 adults who are awaiting deportation.

“We have two officers, around the clock, at the hospital taking care of this person, and that’s one bill. Due to the medical issues he has, the bills are going to be in the millions — and that’s just for one person,” Hodgson said. “That’s directly from the medical staff. That’s just one person’s bill.”"

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2014/07/unprecedented_immigrant_issue_a_drain_for_state

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

It is not incumbent upon the American taxpayer to feed, water, and barn ALL the world's hungry, thirsty, homeless (these people crawling in already have homes, but I digress). Do not the people in Honduras, Mexico, etc, have a responsibility to care for their own poor? Why should it be our problem?

Its a simple matter of limited resources. America cannot accommodate every poor person on earth. What do you want, for every person in the world to crowd into the United States' borders? As it is, the current rate of invasion, it won't be long before we, the American taxpayers, are all poorer than ever, hungry, and homeless. And nobody will care for us -- the "children" swarming in here will kick Atzlan dirt in our collective face while the complicit government looks on laughing.

[HarleyD]

Feed the hungry Give drink to the thirsty Shelter the homeless Clothe the naked Care for the sick Visit the imprisoned Bury the dead

Are you talking about the vets that have no jobs? Are you talking about the American kids in our decaying classrooms? Perhaps you're talking about our seniors who can't live with rising food prices.

Our Lord also said you will always have the poor with you. It's folly to bring in others when you can't feed those around you.

Ecc 7:12 For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

Pro 10:15 A rich man's wealth is his strong city; the poverty of the poor is their ruin.

[Iscool]

The Scriptural basis for the corporal works of mercy is the parable in the Gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus teaches his disciples about God’s criteria for the Last Judgment (cf.Mt25:35-42).

There will be no Christians at the last judgment...And secondly, where's the pope's corporal works of mercy??? His arms should be wide open to these 'refugees' at the vatican...Sounds like one of the Pharisees in Mat. 23...

[Salvation]

Matthew 25: 24-46

34	Then the King will say to those at his right hand, `Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
35	for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
36	I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'
37	Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?
38	And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?
39	And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?'
40	And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'
41	Then he will say to those at his left hand, `Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;
42	for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
43	I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'
44	Then they also will answer, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?'
45	Then he will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.'
46	And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

That doesn't mean you pour out every bit of resources you have in a short period of time, and end up creating MORE poor, with nobody left who has anything to help them with. If thats what you really think, power down the computer you are using right now, and go give it to the first poor looking person you see. Then do the same thing with everything else you have, including your house.

"#2241 The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin... Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens."

And the USCCB, "Second Principle: A country has the right to regulate its borders and to control immigration."

The people invading America do not respect our national sovereignty by the very act of their illegal entry. A huge proportion take it a step further and deny that the western states belong to America, and consider themselves soldiers i n the war to reclaim "Atzlan." We cannot support these people, and they do not meet the basic duties of an immigrant to their country of adoption.

[Salvation]

Yes, all of the forgotten veterans too.

[Salvation]

**That doesn’t mean you pour out every bit of resources you have in a short period of time, and end up creating MORE poor, with nobody left who has anything to help them with**

Correct.

[2ndDivisionVet]

How many of these “children” will you and your congregation be taking in, then? I’m not being “snarky” I’m very serious.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Jesus of Nazareth - Hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD—lHALcm0

[MaxMax]

Agree, take them all to the Vatican and see how they deal with it.
I can promise you it would not be pretty. Hear that Muslims? Go invade the Vatican!

[TigersEye]

There must be a word for the rhetorical device of hotly denouncing a moral fault which might or might not be present ---

If it might not be present then the word "pointless" comes to mind.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Yes, yes, but not “quite” pointless. It seems deliberate, a tactical provocation. But I might very well be wrong.

[TigersEye]

You sound less thrilled than I am with what the Pontiff has said.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Well, I don't know how to figure it out. It was -- "as quoted" --- a most easily seen as a stand-alone slap at people who object to chaos and lawlessness being imposed on their country. A humanitarian appeal on the HolyFather's part would better have taken a different form: Our churches and schools will be open tot take care of people's immediate needs. Neighboring nations --- not just the USA, not just Italy (Lampedusa)! --- should cooperate in settling people in the mid-term so they can have some sort of security. Smugglers must be prosecuted! Traffickers must be prosecuted! Exploiters of cheap labor are offending God! Nations that drive their own people away needy and in fear --- Libya, El Salvador, Sudan, Guatemala, Syria, Nicaragua etc. --- woe to you, oppressors of the poor!"

May these refugees someday soon overturn their oppressors and return home in security and peace!"

See, you can get pretty hot rhetorically, and much more accurately.

If only I wrote his speeches... :o)

[piusv]

When Benedict dies, does Francis automatically become the real one?