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June 11, 2019 | The Valley Catholic
COMMENTARY
Pope Critical of ‘Meanness’ Toward Migrants and Refugees
By Tony Magliano
Internationally syndicated social jus-
tice and peace columnist
[email protected]
“The signs of meanness we see around us height-
en our fear of ‘the other,’ the unknown, the marginal-
ized, the foreigner,” and thus many migrants seeking
a better life end up as recipients of this meanness,
said Pope Francis in his recently released 2019 World
Day of Migrants and Refugees message.
The Holy Father warned that when we allow fears
and doubts to “condition our way of thinking and
acting to the point of making us intolerant, closed
and perhaps even – racist” – there is a serious prob-
lem. For “in this way, fear deprives us of the desire
and the ability to encounter the other, the person dif-
ferent from myself; it deprives me of an opportunity
to encounter the Lord.”
This wonderful idea of actually encountering the
Lord, and all others, is one of Pope Francis’ major
themes. He is trying to inspire us to build not per-
sonal walls, nor national walls, but instead a “culture
of encounter.”
There are many lies that have been spread about
migrants and refugees; lies that they are murder-
ers, rapists and criminals of all sorts. But numerous
studies point to the contrary.
The vast majority are good decent human beings
who pay taxes while enjoying virtually no benefits.
And they are working at jobs most citizens will not
do – like the back-breaking work of picking our veg-
etables and fruits, washing dishes and landscaping.
Furthermore, they add fresh vitality to our towns,
cities and parishes. They need us and we need them!
This is what Pope Francis’ “culture of encounter” is
all about.
The signs of meanness we see
around us heighten our fear of
‘the other,’ the unknown, the
marginalized, the foreigner...
-Pope Francis
“The progress of our peoples” said the pope “de-
pends above all on our openness to being touched
and moved by those who knock at our door. Their
faces shatter and debunk all those false idols that can
take over and enslave our lives; idols that promise
an illusory and momentary happiness blind to the
lives and sufferings of others.”
Instead of building Pope Francis’ welcom-
ing “culture of encounter,” several European
countries including Bulgaria, Hungry, Slovenia,
Macedonia, Austria and France (funded by the
June 26 - July 3 Sisters’ & Lay Women’s 8-Day Silent Retreat: Father Stephen Akers
Women Doctors of the Church
July 12-14 Men’s & Women’s Silent Retreat: Father Alan Benander, O. Praem.
(Norbertine) - Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola
August 16-18 Men’s & Women’s Silent Retreat: Father Paul McDonnell, OSJ
Mother Mary in the Sacramental Life of the Church
September 6-8 Men’s & Women’s Non-Silent Retreat (open to all; appropriate for
Fresno, Silver Angels): Father Serge Propst, OP - Living with Grace
U.K.) have built barriers to keep out people who
are fleeing armed conflicts and terrible poverty
(see: https://bit.ly/2Wymttf).
And in the U.S., the Trump administration’s deter-
mination to lengthen the wall at the Mexican border
and his policy of “zero-tolerance” – stepped-up ap-
prehension and detention of migrants/refugees often
fleeing armed conflict and drug gang violence, mass
assembly-line criminal court trials, jail sentences
and deportation back to the violence refugees were
fleeing – is causing untold suffering.
I have been to the U.S.-Mexico border in south-
ern Arizona, and have touched “The Wall” – the
approximately 25 foot high steel barrier blocking
Mexicans from entering the U.S. It looks and feels
unholy. Thousands of refugees and migrants have
died trying to walk far around the wall and through
the unforgiving Arizona Sonoran desert.
Joanna Williams, director of education and ad-
vocacy for the Catholic-run Kino Border Initiative,
located near the border in Nogales, Mexico (see:
www.kinoborderinitiative.org), told me asylum
seekers are turned back when they seek to turn
themselves into Customs and Border Protection at
U.S. ports of entry, and have to wait for many weeks
or months before they have the opportunity to even
ask for asylum.
Please prayerfully read the Holy Father’s World
Day of Migrants and Refugees message (see:
https://bit.ly/2VOwCxL). It will very likely inspire
you to stand against the meanness – and stand with
our desperate brothers and sisters who are knocking
at our nations’ doors begging for Christian kindness.
September 13-15 Women’s Silent Retreat: Father Serge Propst, OP - Living with Grace
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Father Serge Propst, OP- Living with Grace
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October 11-13
A.A. & Al-Anon Women: Contact Colleen (650) 714-1985
831-423-8093 • www.stclaresretreat.com
Email: [email protected]
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El pasado 28 y 29 de mayo se reunieron los Directores(as) de Catequesis
para gozar de un merecido tiempo de convivencia, reflexión y oración. Les
acompaño el Párroco Robert Brocato de la Parroquia de Santa María de Gilroy.