Pope Francis to activists: Stand with migrants, do not deny climate science, there is no such thing as ‘Islamic terrorism’
America
In
a letter written to a leaders of grassroots organizations and social
movements meeting this week in California, Pope Francis said Christians
must resist the temptation to demonize others, protect the earth and
fight against “the invisible tyranny of money that only guarantees the
privileges of a few.”
Writing that the world is in the midst of an “historic
turning point,” Francis said the “worsening crisis” presents both danger
and opportunity, using language sure to recall tensions between some
Catholic leaders and the fledgling Trump administration.
“The grave danger is to disown our neighbors. When we do
so, we deny their humanity and our own humanity without realizing it; we
deny ourselves, and we deny the most important Commandments of Jesus,”
Francis wrote in the letter, which was dated Feb. 10 and published in
Spanish.
Cardinal Peter Turkson, head of the Vatican’s department
for Integral Human Development, read the pope’s letter on Feb. 16 to
participants at the opening of the U.S. Regional World Meeting of
Popular Movements meeting in Modesto, a new event based on similar
international meetings previously held in Rome and in Bolivia. The
California gathering includes participants from a dozen countries.
“I know that you have committed yourselves to fight for
social justice, to defend our Sister Mother Earth and to stand alongside
migrants. I want to reaffirm your choice,” the pope’s letter read.
In his letter, Francis condemned what he dubbed a global
“hypocritical attitude” toward suffering and he called for more action
to address a range of social ills.
“Sooner or later, the moral blindness of this indifference
comes to light, like when a mirage dissipates,” he wrote. “The wounds
are there, they are a reality. The unemployment is real, the violence is
real, the corruption is real, the identity crisis is real, the gutting
of democracies is real.”
Francis condemned leaders who rely on “fear, insecurity,
quarrels, and even people’s justified indignation, in order to shift the
responsibility for all these ills onto a ‘non-neighbor.’”
Though he wrote in the letter that he was not speaking
about any particular leaders but of “a social and political process that
flourishes in many parts of the world” that “poses a grave danger for
humanity,” the letter, delivered in a border state with a large Hispanic
population, is sure to suggest tensions between church leaders and U.S.
President Donald J. Trump.
Last year, the pope said political leaders who propose building border walls were not Christian, a statement interpreted by the Trump campaign as a slight against the candidate.
More recently, Catholic bishops in the United States have condemned several executive orders
signed by Mr. Trump placing restrictions on immigration and refugee
resettlement, including an executive order to move forward with plans to
build a border wall.
Rather than looking to political leaders as models to solve
the world’s various crises, the pope said in his letter that “Jesus
teaches us a different path.”
“Do not classify others in order to see who is a neighbor
and who is not,” he wrote. “You can become neighbor to whomever you meet
in need, and you will do so if you have compassion in your heart.”
Francis also repeated his warning against describing terrorism as Islamic, another major theme of Mr. Trump’s campaign.
“Christian terrorism does not exist, Jewish terrorism does
not exist, and Muslim terrorism does not exist. They do not exist,”
Francis wrote.
“There are fundamentalist and violent individuals in all
peoples and religions—and with intolerant generalizations they become
stronger because they feed on hate and xenophobia,” he continued.
Mr. Trump repeatedly criticized his predecessor for
refusing to label acts of terror committed by Muslims “radical Islamic
terrorism,” a phrase he has used often since his election.
“By confronting terror with love, we work for peace,” the pope wrote.
Finally, the pope reiterated his plea for believers to
defend creation against exploitation, issuing a subtle warning against
those who deny challenges facing the environment.
The “ecological crisis is real,” the pope wrote, and though
conceding that science “is not the only form of knowledge,” he said,
“we also know what happens when we deny science and disregard the voice
of Nature.”
Mr. Trump has called climate change a hoax and vowed to loosen federal regulations designed to protect the environment in order to support business.
For his part, the pope said the time to act to protect the environment is at hand.
“Let us not fall into denial. Time is running out,” he
warned. “Let us act. I ask you again—all of you, people of all
backgrounds including native people, pastors, political leaders—to
defend Creation.”
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