OPINION:
Pope Francis has once again trotted into political territory, calling on the masses to not just feed and clothe but also open border doors and shelter strangers from lands far and away.
His words? European nations, all the developed nations, need to welcome more migrants.
Well, isn’t that special. Now what about Vatican City?
Hold that thought.
“Christ himself asks us to welcome our brother and sister migrants and refugees with arms wide open,” he said, during a recent address from St. Peter’s Square, Breitbart reported.
That chastisement came on the heels of another one offered a few days earlier, one where he characterized Europeans who opposed open-door welcomes of migrants as filled with “intolerance, discrimination and xenophobia.”
Well, apparently the pope himself is suffering from a serious bout of “thee and not me” disease.
Against the backdrop of all this sanctimony stands Vatican City and its massive walls. And while church officials go to great lengths to point out that it’s simply a metal detector that separates any Tom, Dick, Harry or Jane — or, ostensibly, Abdul and Aisha — from strolling into St. Peter’s Square, fact is a walk is hardly the same as a homestead.
For the pope to call on the world — including America — to take more refugees is a true Matthew 7:5 moment. That’s the biblical passage that reads, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Oh, we know, we know, back in March, the Vatican Press Office announced loudly and proudly that “three new Syrian families have found shelter and welcome in the Vatican as part of an ongoing effort to provide the means and the tools for integration and a new life of hope for those fleeing conflict and persecution.” But really — really?
By headcount, the three families totaled 13. And more than half were Christian. Imagine that. The better part of the fleeing refugee population is Muslim, yet the Vatican’s powers-who-be happen to find the Christian bunch among the Syrian masses. You can bet they were well-vetted, too.
If only this pope would allow for America to similarly vet refugees for entry. Instead?
He’s kicked off a two-year campaign about the sufferings of the poor migrant community, telling the world at large, the governments of the globe: “Don’t be afraid of sharing hope.”
That’s Catholic code for Open Your Borders. And that’s a plank in the walled Vatican City-living pope’s eye that needs to be pulled.
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