Vatican City: Pope Francis urges people to overcome fear of immigrants

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Pope Francis, after shaking hands with each of the migrants and refugees, said he saw "only a great desire for friendship and assistance."

Times of Ahmad | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: The Arlington Catholic Herald
By Cindy Wooden/CNS | October 3, 2017

Politics as service to the common good and the need to create spaces where citizens and migrants can meet and overcome fear were topics Pope Francis repeatedly returned to Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

Arriving in Bologna mid-morning Oct. 1, Pope Francis went directly to the "Regional Hub," a government-run processing center for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. He was given, and wore, a yellow ID bracelet with his name and a number, just like the migrants and refugees there wear.

Just four days after he kicked off Caritas Internationalis' "Share the Journey" campaign to encourage Catholics to meet a migrant or refugee and listen to his or her story, Pope Francis told the 1,000 people at the hub, "Many people don't know you and they're afraid."

The fear "makes them feel they have the right to judge and to do so harshly and coldly, thinking they see clearly," the pope said. "But it's not true. One sees well only up close, which gives mercy."

"From far away, we can say and think anything, like easily happens when they write terrible phrases and insults on the internet," the pope said.

But, he told them, "if we look at our neighbor without mercy, we run the risk of God looking at us without mercy."

Pope Francis, after shaking hands with each of the migrants and refugees, said he saw "only a great desire for friendship and assistance."

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