Pope Francis wrote in a new book released Monday that "migration is not a threat to Christianity".
"To reject a migrant in difficulty, whatever his religious belief, for fear of diluting a 'Christian' culture, is to grotesquely distort both Christianity and culture," he says.
Pope Francis, lawyer of humanitarian corridors to welcome migrants in Europe, hammered in a new book unveiled on Monday that "migration is not a threat to Christianity".
"To reject a migrant in difficulty, whatever his religious belief, for fear of diluting a 'Christian' culture, is to grotesquely distort both Christianity and culture," writes the Argentine Pope in a work entitled in French
A time for change
, largely inspired by his thoughts on the coronavirus pandemic.
Pope denounces "the spirit of those who win by claiming" that migration is a threat
“Migration is not a threat to Christianity, except in the minds of those who win by claiming it is. Defend the Gospel and not welcome foreigners in need, nor affirm their humanity by as children of God, it is to seek to encourage a culture which is Christian in name only, emptied of everything that makes it unique ", asserts François.
The insistence of the sovereign pontiff to condemn the rich countries, above all Europe, on the reception of migrants, sometimes earned him criticism pointing to his naivety, including among Catholics.
But he believes that these criticisms often come from less observant citizens.
“One of the fantasies of nationalism in predominantly Christian countries is to defend 'Christian civilization' against supposed enemies, whether they be Islam, the Jews, the European Union or the United Nations. defense appeals to those who are often no longer religious but who consider the heritage of their nation as a kind of identity. Their fears and loss of identity have increased as church attendance has declined ", asserts so the Pope.
The precariousness of migrants highlighted by the Pope
In his new book, the Pope highlights the precariousness of migrants who live in the promiscuity of unsanitary camps in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Refugee camps turn dreams of a better life into torture chambers,” he wrote, adding: “if the Covid enters a refugee camp, it can create a real disaster”.
For Argentinian Jorge Bergoglio, himself a grandson of Italian immigrants living in Argentina, "the dignity of our peoples requires safe corridors for migrants and refugees so that they can move without fear of deadly zones to safer areas ".
"It is unacceptable to discourage immigration by letting hundreds of migrants die during perilous sea crossings or journeys in the desert," he said.
In this new plea, he recalls that "poorly paid" migrants often constitute the workforce of the most developed societies, while being "denigrated".