Pope Francis: Seeing What He Wants To See

ImmigrantsfencePope Francis on Good Friday:

The Guardian:

Pope Francis decried what he called Europe’s “indifferent and anaesthetised conscience” over refugees, during Good Friday prayers in Rome during which he also criticised pedophile priests, arms dealers and fundamentalists.

Tens of thousands of Catholic faithful gathered for the service at the city’s Colosseum, where thousands of Christians are believed to have been killed in Roman times.

“O Cross of Christ, today we see you in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas which have become insatiable cemeteries, reflections of our indifferent and anaesthetised conscience,” the 79-year old pontiff said, referring to the thousands who set off in unseaworthy boats to reach Greece and the rest of Europe.”

Francis has been hectoring Europeans about migrants (many of whom are not refugees)  since, at least, his disgusting, dishonest and demagogic pronouncements in Lampedusa some years back. Yet he seems unwilling to acknowledge quite how many refugees Europe has been taking in of late. It would, I suppose, get in the way of his ‘narrative’.

The Pope also seems unwilling to acknowledge that comments such as his have helped create a climate which have tempted many migrants to take the dangerous route to Europe – with the tragic consequences with which we have become all too familiar.

What was it again that the prewar British prime minister Stanley Baldwin had to say about power without responsibility?

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1 Response to Pope Francis: Seeing What He Wants To See

  1. Narr says:

    He sees the world through stained-glass goggles–he wouldn’t have the job if he didn’t.

    When I see what’s happened recently and think about what’s going to happen in the future, I am reminded of Nietzsche’s observation to the effect that while madness is rare in individuals, it is common (I would say inherent) in religions, movements, u.s.w.

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