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http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/i...015_Credit_LOsservatore_Romano_CNA.jpgVatican City, Jan 11, 2016 / 07:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Monday Pope Francis gave his first major speech of the year to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, focusing on the hot-button topic of migration and the need to find dignified solutions to the problem.
While the increasing number of migrants certainly poses a challenge, Francis said that the basic human dignity of those seeking a better life shouldn’t be overshadowed by the problems that come with them.
“Over the past year Europe has witnessed a great wave of refugees – many of whom died in the attempt – a wave unprecedented in recent history, not even after the end of the Second World War,” the Pope told diplomats Jan. 11.
Migrants coming from Asia and Africa see Europe as “a beacon” for principles such as equality before the law as well as for values “inherent in human nature,” like the recognition dignity and equality of each person, respect for others regardless of origin or affiliation, freedom of conscience and solidarity, he said.
The Pope acknowledged that the massive number of arrivals on European shores “appear to be overburdening the system of reception painstakingly built on the ashes of the Second World War.”
“Given the immense influx and the inevitable problems it creates, a number of questions have be raised” about what is realistically possible in terms of accepting and accommodating so many people.
Along with these questions come concerns regarding changes in the cultural and social structures of the countries who receive migrants, as well as the reshaping “of certain regional geopolitical balances,” he said.
Fears about safety and security are “exacerbated” by the growing threat of terrorism, Francis observed, explaining that the wave of migration appears to be “undermining the foundations of that humanistic spirit which Europe has always loved and defended.”
However, in the midst of so many challenges and concerns, Pope Francis said that the basic principles of dignity and respect shouldn’t be forgotten.
“There should be no loss of the values and principles of humanity, respect for the dignity of every person, mutual subsidiarity and solidarity, however much they may prove, in some moments of history, a burden difficult to bear,” he said.
Francis then reaffirmed his conviction that Europe “has the means to defend the centrality of the human person and to find the right balance between its twofold moral responsibility to protect the rights of its citizens and to ensure assistance and acceptance to migrants.”
Pope Francis spoke to the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See as part of his traditional exchange of New Year’s greetings with the diplomats. There are currently 180 ambassadors of other countries to the Holy See, 86 of whom reside in Rome.
An annual occurrence, the Pope’s speech to diplomats is one of the most important that he gives at the beginning of the year just begun, and sets the Holy See’s diplomatic tone for the rest of the year.
In his lengthy speech, Francis pointed to several important agreements of 2015, in particular to two fiscal agreements reached with Italy and the United States, as well as the Holy See’s agreement with the State of Palestine, which recently went into effect.
He then recapped his five apostolic voyages to Sri Lanka and the Philippines; Bosnia and Herzegovina; his tour of South America, which took him to Bolivia, Ecuador and Paraguay; Cuba and the United States, and his recent visit to Africa.
Family was also a major theme for 2015, he noted, adding that it is “the first and most important school of mercy, in which we learn to see God’s loving face and to mature and develop as human beings.”
However, he warned that the family is being “threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life.”
Today there is “a widespread fear of the definitive commitment demanded by the family,” he said, explaining that and that those who pay the price “are the young, who are often vulnerable and uncertain, and the elderly, who end up being neglected and abandoned.”
Francis also cautioned the diplomats of developing an individualistic attitude, which he said “is fertile soil for the growth of that kind of indifference towards our neighbors which leads to viewing them in purely economic terms.”
The lack of concern for their humanity, he said, ultimately leads to feelings of “fear and cynicism,” and noted that this is the attitude frequently adopted toward society’s poor and marginalized populations.
A prime example of these persons are migrants, who “with their burden of hardship and suffering” daily search for a place to live in peace and dignity, “often in desperation,” he said.
Full article…
While the increasing number of migrants certainly poses a challenge, Francis said that the basic human dignity of those seeking a better life shouldn’t be overshadowed by the problems that come with them.
“Over the past year Europe has witnessed a great wave of refugees – many of whom died in the attempt – a wave unprecedented in recent history, not even after the end of the Second World War,” the Pope told diplomats Jan. 11.
Migrants coming from Asia and Africa see Europe as “a beacon” for principles such as equality before the law as well as for values “inherent in human nature,” like the recognition dignity and equality of each person, respect for others regardless of origin or affiliation, freedom of conscience and solidarity, he said.
The Pope acknowledged that the massive number of arrivals on European shores “appear to be overburdening the system of reception painstakingly built on the ashes of the Second World War.”
“Given the immense influx and the inevitable problems it creates, a number of questions have be raised” about what is realistically possible in terms of accepting and accommodating so many people.
Along with these questions come concerns regarding changes in the cultural and social structures of the countries who receive migrants, as well as the reshaping “of certain regional geopolitical balances,” he said.
Fears about safety and security are “exacerbated” by the growing threat of terrorism, Francis observed, explaining that the wave of migration appears to be “undermining the foundations of that humanistic spirit which Europe has always loved and defended.”
However, in the midst of so many challenges and concerns, Pope Francis said that the basic principles of dignity and respect shouldn’t be forgotten.
“There should be no loss of the values and principles of humanity, respect for the dignity of every person, mutual subsidiarity and solidarity, however much they may prove, in some moments of history, a burden difficult to bear,” he said.
Francis then reaffirmed his conviction that Europe “has the means to defend the centrality of the human person and to find the right balance between its twofold moral responsibility to protect the rights of its citizens and to ensure assistance and acceptance to migrants.”
Pope Francis spoke to the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See as part of his traditional exchange of New Year’s greetings with the diplomats. There are currently 180 ambassadors of other countries to the Holy See, 86 of whom reside in Rome.
An annual occurrence, the Pope’s speech to diplomats is one of the most important that he gives at the beginning of the year just begun, and sets the Holy See’s diplomatic tone for the rest of the year.
In his lengthy speech, Francis pointed to several important agreements of 2015, in particular to two fiscal agreements reached with Italy and the United States, as well as the Holy See’s agreement with the State of Palestine, which recently went into effect.
He then recapped his five apostolic voyages to Sri Lanka and the Philippines; Bosnia and Herzegovina; his tour of South America, which took him to Bolivia, Ecuador and Paraguay; Cuba and the United States, and his recent visit to Africa.
Family was also a major theme for 2015, he noted, adding that it is “the first and most important school of mercy, in which we learn to see God’s loving face and to mature and develop as human beings.”
However, he warned that the family is being “threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life.”
Today there is “a widespread fear of the definitive commitment demanded by the family,” he said, explaining that and that those who pay the price “are the young, who are often vulnerable and uncertain, and the elderly, who end up being neglected and abandoned.”
Francis also cautioned the diplomats of developing an individualistic attitude, which he said “is fertile soil for the growth of that kind of indifference towards our neighbors which leads to viewing them in purely economic terms.”
The lack of concern for their humanity, he said, ultimately leads to feelings of “fear and cynicism,” and noted that this is the attitude frequently adopted toward society’s poor and marginalized populations.
A prime example of these persons are migrants, who “with their burden of hardship and suffering” daily search for a place to live in peace and dignity, “often in desperation,” he said.
Full article…
At least not that I’ve seen.