Pope Francis urges youth to accept migrants on visit to Poland

[Lormar]

I respect His Holiness Pope Francis, by virtue of him being the pope, but I think that this is taking it too far. Germany has had like five terror attacks, and many sexual assaults and common assaults on individuals and small groups, within the past few weeks. This is madness.

Yes, we must be loving and compassionate, but I’m not sure that that necessarily means harming our own people.

I hope Poland doesn’t do it. They have suffered enough.

And I don’t think Pope Francis ought to be interfering.

 

[abucs]

I think mass refugee intakes of alien cultures creates many more problems than it solves.

The people who have attempted to redefine mass refugee intakes of foreign cultures as somehow a “good” or “virtue” are forcing a worse world on me and my children.

If i were a Sri Lankan Buddhist, Taiwanese Confucian or Sudanese animist everyone would be on my side with sympathy. But i am a Western Christian where “goodness and virtue” have been redefined by secularist forces to reflect an insane and destructive manufactured morality.

I predict in the next 30 years it will be clear that the secularist manufactured morality is not viable and the Christians who replaced their Christianity with this value system were sowing future discord.

The west, so clearly an example to the rest of the world on how to do organise society, will be just as powerful an example on how not to organise it. The world will become less united because of this.

 

[Hatikvah]

I hope Poland doesn’t do it. They have suffered enough.

And I don’t think Pope Francis ought to be interfering.

Yes, and His Holiness is not, as some of his predecessors were, a wordly power in the sense of him owning a force like the Papal States. Yes, he is the temporal authority of Vatican City, but the whole 1927 agreement founding Vatican City was just to “protect the spiritual independence of the pope,” and thus it does not have a mission like the United States or anything.

As a non-Catholic who does not live in the Middle Ages or in the Age of Exploration, I think that he still has a lot to manage with the Catholic Church and with inter-religious affairs… if he is a man of peace, and I like to think that he is, he needs to focus on the absolute best thing for Poland. That is likely another avenue that does not include accepting refugees.

 

[starshiptrooper]

Because a large group of military age males is hardly what I would call refugees. Given the recent spike of sexual assaults and the frequent terrorist attacks by radical Islamists, it seems like they are acting more like an invading army and less like a people running from trouble.

 

[lmachine]

Pope urges Catholics to act Catholic.

 

[Hatikvah]

Pope urges Catholics to act Catholic.

What is “acting Catholic?” For some, it appears as though this is not a case of compassion but of politics and national security. There is the one hand: we must be compassionate and loving as Jesus is. Of course, there is the other: we must defend what we have, as common sense may dictate.

We would not even have a Christian “just war” doctrine formulated by Ss. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas if it were not intended for use at some point! The key part of war, for at least one belligerent, is national defense either of self or of allies. In our case, it appears that both must be defended because both are at risk.

Even the New Jerusalem (Revelation 22) does not have an “open-door” policy, and God Himself (including Jesus) dwells there:

Outside are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone loving and practicing falsehood. (Revelation 22:15, BLB)

 

[Darryl1958]

What is “acting Catholic?” …

It is a caricature of actually being Catholic, for the most part.

 

[gracepoole]

And I don’t think Pope Francis ought to be interfering.

Is it really surprising that he’s speaking about a moral topic? I think that’s part of his job description.

 

[Peccavi]

I hope Poland doesn’t do it. They have suffered enough.

And I don’t think Pope Francis ought to be interfering.

The Pope talking to Catholics is “interfering” ??? What kind of Catholicism is that ? If you believe the Pope is Peter and that Jesus gave to Peter and his successors the Keys to the Kingdom then the Pope has every right to speak out as the holy spirit tells him too.As Catholics you either believe in the Pope’s authority or find another faith.

 

[estesbob]

The Pope talking to Catholics is “interfering” ??? What kind of Catholicism is that ? If you believe the Pope is Peter and that Jesus gave to Peter and his successors the Keys to the Kingdom then the Pope has every right to speak out as the holy spirit tells him too.As Catholics you either believe in the Pope’s authority or find another faith.

You have the usual Protestant misunderstanding of the doctrine of Pople infallibility . The church does not teach that Catholics must agree with everything the Pope says . The doctrine of Papal infallibility applies only to matters of faith and morals and only when the Pope specifically says he is exercising this authority. It’s only been invoked twice in the history of the Church

Since he is the Vicar of Christ Catholics should take everything he says very seriously but it is simply not true that you have to accept everything he says or find another faith.

 

[Seamus_L]

I see that all the time now where those of the liberal persuasion frequently attempt to make doctrine out of any comment the Pope makes that they agree with, i.e Pope says we’re not to focus on abortion and same sex marriage anymore, Pope doesn’t believe in 5 non-negotiables, Pope believes man made climate change is real, Pope supports gun control, etc, etc.

 

[wllmjoseph]

To be fair, nobody is asking or expecting all the refugees to settle in Europe. Out of the 5 million Syrian refugees most have sought sanctuary in neighbouring states - 2.6 million in Turkey and 1.6 million in Lebanon. 300,000 have been granted asylum in Europe. The 1 million figure that Mrs Merkel (unwisely in my view) mentioned includes people from Serbia, Albanian and Macedonia who are also seeking asylum in western Europe. Under the EU plan to take the pressure of Greece, Poland was asked to take just 7,000. To put all that into context the population of Europe is over 500 million.

The countries that have significant Muslim populations experience ongoing waves of terrorism. It can not be denied that a significant percentage of the Muslim population in Europe is not interested in integrating in European society. In the Arab press there is discussion on their expectation that large areas of Europe will become predominantly Muslim in the years to come.

Poland and Hungary have every right to look what is going on presently in France and Belgium and to protect their own national interests. We are obligated to help the Syrian Refugees but not at any cost. Why is it that both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have not taken any of the Syrian refugees?

 

[wllmjoseph]

By the logic of some people on this thread:

In the 70s and 80s, the IRA were terrorists who consisted of Irish Catholics. Based on the risk that an Irish Catholic might have been in the IRA, Irish Catholics should have been kept quarantined from the rest of society.

I’m not saying don’t do background checks on refugees, but you simply cannot assume the worst in people en masse. Also, segregation is a great way to create even more extremists so it will backfire massively.

I do not agree with your line of reasoning. The IRA was a response to the injustices that were committed in Ireland and Northern Ireland. There was a time when there was a valid reason for the IRA. In the 70’s and 80’s you are correct that the terrorism of the IRA was immoral and wrong. The Muslim communities of Europe have an opportunity at a better life in Europe than they would have in North Africa or the Middle East. To compare the situation in Northern Ireland and the current environment in Europe with the Muslim communities is completely false. Your comparison also dismisses the reality that it was England’s activities in Ireland, not to mention it’s efforts to destroy the Catholic Church, that created the IRA. In comparison the Europeans are not antagonizing the Muslim communities of Europe. It is the Muslim communities of Europe that want to impose their way of life on the Christian Europeans.

 

[Peccavi]

You have the usual Protestant misunderstanding of the doctrine of Pople infallibility . The church does not teach that Catholics must agree with everything the Pope says . The doctrine of Papal infallibility applies only to matters of faith and morals and only when the Pope specifically says he is exercising this authority. It’s only been invoked twice in the history of the Church

Since he is the Vicar of Christ Catholics should take everything he says very seriously but it is simply not true that you have to accept everything he says or find another faith.

Interesting I have never been a Protestant. Seems some Catholics can find ways to worm and squirm out of anything.and then claim their critics are “Protestants”. I use to be a Catholic until I discovered the Jewish Jesus.

 

[DeniseNY]

Interesting I have never been a Protestant. Seems some Catholics can find ways to worm and squirm out of anything.and then claim their critics are “Protestants”. I use to be a Catholic until I discovered the Jewish Jesus.

Explaining Papal Infallibility is “worming and squirming”?

 

[Hatikvah]

Interesting I have never been a Protestant. Seems some Catholics can find ways to worm and squirm out of anything.and then claim their critics are “Protestants”. I use to be a Catholic until I discovered the Jewish Jesus.

No offense intended, but is it the Wesleyan/Holiness movement’s Church of the Nazarene, founded in 1907? They are undoubtedly Protestant (Arminianism and other theological doctrines, for example, are present).

 

[estesbob]

Interesting I have never been a Protestant. Seems some Catholics can find ways to worm and squirm out of anything.and then claim their critics are “Protestants”. I use to be a Catholic until I discovered the Jewish Jesus.

How is explaining Papal Infallibily worming and squirming. I hope you’re misunderstanding of this doctrine did not cause you to leave the church

 

[Darryl1958]

Just as a side note, Catholics believe that Jesus was Jewish too. One does not need to go to a Protestant Church to discover the Jewish Jesus.

Just as one does not need to be a mindless follower of the pope to be a Catholic either.

 

[Geist]

Because they’re not “refugees”?

Many are not from Syria and are just looking for welfare and consequence free rape. Those actually from Syria ceased being (actual) refugees the second they crossed into Turkey or Jordan.

 

[Geist]

Pope urges Catholics to act Catholic.

When the Vatican is converted into a mosque like the Hagia Sophia was, how Catholic will that be?

Make no mistake this is an invasion and nothing more.