Refusing aid to migrants is a "grave sin" - Pope Francis

10,356 Views | 200 Replies | Last: 1 mo ago by nortex97
PabloSerna
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"There are those who work systematically and with every means to reject migrants," the pontiff said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.
"And this, when done with conscience and responsibility, is a grave sin," he said.

I think most Christians would agree that what so ever we do to the least of our brothers, that we do unto Christ.

“Falsehood flies and the truth comes limping after it” -Jonathan Swift, 1710
Martin Q. Blank
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How high are the walls around the Vatican these days?

If someone scaled the walls of the Vatican to try and live a better life, what would happen to that man?
747Ag
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Regarding immigration, the devil is in the details.
PabloSerna
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Is the Vatican working systematically to reject immigrants?
“Falsehood flies and the truth comes limping after it” -Jonathan Swift, 1710
10andBOUNCE
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PabloSerna said:

"There are those who work systematically and with every means to reject migrants," the pontiff said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.
"And this, when done with conscience and responsibility, is a grave sin," he said.

I think most Christians would agree that what so ever we do to the least of our brothers, that we do unto Christ.


You're welcome to write an eleventy billion dollar check to migrants anytime you want.
PabloSerna
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That's like saying since men cannot have children, they cannot tell women abortion is wrong.
“Falsehood flies and the truth comes limping after it” -Jonathan Swift, 1710
Martin Q. Blank
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PabloSerna said:

Is the Vatican working systematically to reject immigrants?
Illegal immigrants? Absolutely. That's why they built a wall. They select and vet their immigrants very carefully.
Quo Vadis?
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PabloSerna said:

"There are those who work systematically and with every means to reject migrants," the pontiff said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.
"And this, when done with conscience and responsibility, is a grave sin," he said.

I think most Christians would agree that what so ever we do to the least of our brothers, that we do unto Christ.




You left out a lot of context. He's talking about people like Spain who literally ran over and capsized a migrant boat trying to reach spanish waters. "With every means" is the just phrase in that sentence
Quo Vadis?
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PabloSerna said:

Is the Vatican working systematically to reject immigrants?


Pablo, are we allowed to tell migrants not to come to our country illegally?
HDeathstar
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What is wrong with helping people where they live versus having them risk their lives trekking across a continent? Also no criticism of their own rulers, who are not taking care of their citizens?
Quo Vadis?
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HDeathstar said:

What is wrong with helping people where they live versus having them risk their lives trekking across a continent? Also no criticism of their own rulers, who are not taking care of their citizens?


Much harder for them to help juice the democrat vote that way.
And I say that as a person who votes Republican but would be more than happy to sacrifice them on a funeral pyre for a better alternative
PabloSerna
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We need a door, a nice door, where people seeking asylum from their county of origin that may be at war or under siege can come safely and orderly for help.

ETA: illegal, legal, we can do better. The border is a mess.
“Falsehood flies and the truth comes limping after it” -Jonathan Swift, 1710
Quo Vadis?
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PabloSerna said:

We need a door, a nice door, where people seeking asylum from their county of origin that may be at war or under siege can come safely and orderly for help.


Why can't we politely tell them "I'm sorry, we have 330,000,000 people that we know of and are not in a position to take extra refugees, please seek another country"

powerbelly
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The Vatican citizenship is one of the most difficult to get in the world and only available to:
  • The Cardinals resident in the Vatican City State or in Rome;
  • The Holy See's diplomats; and
  • Persons who reside in Vatican City State by reason of their office or service

Not exactly welcome the poor migrants in Italy with open arms.


PabloSerna
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I can understand that type of statement from a non-Christian. How do you answer the challenge that Jesus poses when he says, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me".
“Falsehood flies and the truth comes limping after it” -Jonathan Swift, 1710
Quo Vadis?
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PabloSerna said:

I can understand that type of statement from a non-Christian. How do you answer the challenge that Jesus poses when he says, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me".


Subsidiarity. We do not have the capacity to help an infinite amount of people, and have many many people to help within the nation before we can begin to worry about those coming from outside our borders.

Imagine a person with a virulent disease raging through his family and local community, does Catholic social teaching demand that he forsake those and travel to the border and aid asylum seekers?

I have been to several Novus ordo masses. One thing that has struck me is that they always ask for prayers "for an increase in vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life; ESPECIALLY IN THE DIOCESE OF GALVESTON-HOUSTON"

Are we to infer from this that the priest does not care about religious vocations in other diocese? Or that perhaps the one closest to our heart should be preeminent?
PabloSerna
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It would seem that the Bible is full of examples of refugees and wandering into strange lands.

Certainly we have to be mindful of our immediate brother and sister, however, we cannot lose sight of the stranger seeking asylum. I think that is the focus of what the Pope is trying to say, that deliberately rejecting migrants is wrong and as he put it a "grave sin."
“Falsehood flies and the truth comes limping after it” -Jonathan Swift, 1710
Quo Vadis?
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PabloSerna said:

It would seem that the Bible is full of examples of refugees and wandering into strange lands.

Certainly we have to be mindful of our immediate brother and sister, however, we cannot lose sight of the stranger seeking asylum. I think that is the focus of what the Pope is trying to say, that deliberately rejecting migrants is wrong and as he put it a "grave sin."


I think the focus of what Pope Francis is saying is "you can't kill illegal immigrants"
PabloSerna
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I find it interesting that Jesus uses Sodom and Gomorrah as an example of how not to welcome the stranger!
“Falsehood flies and the truth comes limping after it” -Jonathan Swift, 1710
Quo Vadis?
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PabloSerna said:

I find it interesting that Jesus uses Sodom and Gomorrah as an example of how not to welcome the stranger!


Yes, you should not try and do a gay gang rape on strangers.
dermdoc
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PabloSerna said:

I find it interesting that Jesus uses Sodom and Gomorrah as an example of how not to welcome the stranger!
How about we take care of American citizens first?

And the Old Testament is very clear about borders. Especially if the immigrants want to hurt us.
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dermdoc
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PabloSerna said:

I find it interesting that Jesus uses Sodom and Gomorrah as an example of how not to welcome the stranger!
Wasn't the stranger an angel? Seems like totally different context from what we are seeing at the border.
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nortex97
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Martin Q. Blank said:

How high are the walls around the Vatican these days?

If someone scaled the walls of the Vatican to try and live a better life, what would happen to that man?
The irony…it's so thick it could be measured in meters.

Let them into your chambers, Francis!



Catholic Charities must be cut off from taxpayer funding, as Louisiana has done, as they are truly evil in their support for human/sex trafficking.

Rex Racer
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PabloSerna said:

I can understand that type of statement from a non-Christian. How do you answer the challenge that Jesus poses when he says, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me".
Jesus was talking about us as individuals helping others. He wasn't talking about national policy or laws.
dermdoc
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And this is a good thread to put in a plug for my favorite charity, Compassion International. Great way to help out kids in other countries.
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nortex97
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PabloSerna said:

"There are those who work systematically and with every means to reject migrants," the pontiff said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.
"And this, when done with conscience and responsibility, is a grave sin," he said.

I think most Christians would agree that what so ever we do to the least of our brothers, that we do unto Christ.
How do you feel about the Vatican financial empire?

newbie11
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PabloSerna said:

I can understand that type of statement from a non-Christian. How do you answer the challenge that Jesus poses when he says, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me".
Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, give to God, what is Gods.

To me, this means you obey the laws of the country in which you live. I volunteer at a homeless kitchen and don't concern myself with the immigration status of our clients when we feed them but the US needs to execute the laws in place and shut the border. No country in the world allows open borders. Not one in the world.
lobopride
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I don't want my government living out my Christianity.

I expect the government to enforce its laws.

Once anyone is in the country (legally or illegally) it is my duty as a Christian to love them as myself.
Zobel
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It's way cooler than that. The Lord asks whose image is on the coin and they say Caesar's. But He clowned them, because whose image do the scriptures say Man was created in? God's. So who's image is on the coin?
Bearpitbull
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Seems really simple to me. It's OK to have borders and enforce them but do it with compassion and kindness. Love God. Love People. I do think we should spend more of our development dollars in this hemisphere first to give our neighbors a reason to stay home and to block influence from China who is aggressively trying to impact South American nations.
Bob Lee
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Bearpitbull said:

Seems really simple to me. It's OK to have borders and enforce them but do it with compassion and kindness. Love God. Love People. I do think we should spend more of our development dollars in this hemisphere first to give our neighbors a reason to stay home and to block influence from China who is aggressively trying to impact South American nations.


What does we and our refer to? Charitable giving by governments and on an industrial scale doesn't work well, and it strips the virtue from the transaction when the money is not given willingly. When money is being channeled through a nameless, faceless intermediary the people on the receiving end don't feel accountable to anyone. If you get a charitable gift from a friend or fellow parishioner there's a sense of profound responsibility to not squander it, and use the gift in the spirit it was intended.

Yes be kind and generous to strangers. But also, "go home, and love your family". For most of us that's the best way to serve all our primary vocation to Love God.
PabloSerna
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You say that they "support" human/sex trafficking- do you have hard evidence or proof that they in fact are doing this as policy? Not talking lone acts, need to see policy in writing.
“Falsehood flies and the truth comes limping after it” -Jonathan Swift, 1710
Quo Vadis?
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PabloSerna said:

You say that they "support" human/sex trafficking- do you have hard evidence or proof that they in fact are doing this as policy? Not talking lone acts, need to see policy in writing.


Dude, what? You're asking if someone has a written policy that they support human sex trafficking?

Thank God you're not a lawyer

"Your honor, it is alleged that my client, Vito Corleone is the head of an organization engaged in racketeering, extortion, counterfeiting, and murder for hire; however if you search their company Mission Statement, you will find none of those things. I rest my case"

PabloSerna
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So it is BS! What I thought all along.
“Falsehood flies and the truth comes limping after it” -Jonathan Swift, 1710
nortex97
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PabloSerna said:

You say that they "support" human/sex trafficking- do you have hard evidence or proof that they in fact are doing this as policy? Not talking lone acts, need to see policy in writing.
Yes, encouraging, transporting, and harboring illegal aliens entry via the drug cartels. That's not charity, or love. It's evil.

 
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