Aboard the papal plane, Sep 11, 2017 / 10:10 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his conversation with journalists on the return flight from Cartagena to Rome on Monday, Pope Francis touched on a variety of topics, notably the US government’s decision to end DACA and the crisis in Venezuela.
He also touched on the peace process in Colombia, Hurricane Irma, climate change, and migration during his Sept. 11 flight.
Please find below CNA’s full transcript of the Pope’s in-flight press conference.
Greg Burke: Thank you, Holy Father, for the time you are dedicating to us today after an intense, tiring trip; very tiring for some, but also a very fruitful trip. On several occasions you thanked the people for what they taught you. We also learn many things in this culture of encounter and we thank you for it.
Colombia in particular, with its recent past, and not only recent, offered us some strong testimonies, some emotional testimonies of forgiveness and reconciliation. But it also offered us a continuous lesson of joy and hope, two words that you used a lot in this trip. Now perhaps you want to say something, and then we can go to the questions. Thank you.
Pope Francis: Good afternoon and thank you very much for your work. I am moved by the joy, the tenderness, the youth and the goodness of the Colombian people. A noble people that isn’t afraid to express how they feel, isn’t afraid to listen and to make seen how they feel. This is how I perceive it. This is the third time I remember [that I have been in Colombia] – but there is a bishop who told me: no, you have been a fourth time – but only for small meetings. One time in Laceja and the other two in Bogota, or three, but, I did not know Colombia well, what you see on the streets. Well, I appreciate the testimony of joy, of hope, of patience in suffering of this people. It did me a lot of good. Thank you.
Greg Burke: Okay, Holy Father. The first question is from César Moreno of Radio Caracol.
Moreno: Thank you, Your Holiness. Good evening. First of all, I would like to thank you on behalf of all the Colombian media that are accompanying us here on this trip, and all of the colleagues and friends for having come to our country, for having given us so many beautiful, profound and affectionate messages, and for such closeness that you demonstrated to the Colombian people. Thank you, Your Holiness.
You arrived, Holy Father, to a divided country. Divided on account of a peace process, between those who accept and those who don’t accept this process. What concretely can be done, what steps can be taken, so that the divided parts grow closer, so that our leaders stop this hate, this grudge? If Your Holiness returns, if you could return to our country in a few years, what do you think, how would you like to see Colombia? Thank you.
Pope Francis: I would like the motto to at least be: “Let us take the second step.” That at least it is this. I thought that there were more. I counted 60, but they told me 54 years of the guerrillas, more or less. And here it accumulates a lot, a lot. A lot of hatred, a lot of resentment, a lot of sickness in the soul. And the sickness isn’t to blame. It comes. The measles grabs and drags you…oh, sorry! I’ll speak in Italian. The sickness is not something to blame, it comes. And in these guerrilla wars – that they really waged, whether they were guerrillas, paramilitaries, or others – and also the corruption in the country, they committed gross sins that lead to this disease of hatred, of…But if they have taken steps that give hope, steps in negotiation, but it has been the last. The ELN ceasefire, and I am very grateful for it, very grateful for this. But there is something else that I perceived. The desire to go forward in this process goes beyond negotiations that they are being done or should be done. It is a spontaneous desire, and this is the strength of the people. This people wants to breathe, but we must help them with the closeness of prayer, and above all with the understanding of how much pain there is inside so many people.
Greg Burke: Now Holy Father, José Mojica, from El Tiempo.
José Mojica: Holy Father, it’s an honor to be here, to be here with you. My name is José Mojica and I am a journalist for El Tiempo, the editorial home of Colombia, and I also greet you in the name of my Colombian colleagues and all communications media in my country.
Colombia has suffered many decades of violence due to the war, the armed conflict and also drug trafficking. However, the ravages of corruption in politics have been just as damaging as the war itself, and although corruption is not new, we have always known that it exists, now it’s more visible because we no longer have news of the war and the armed conflict. What can we do in front of this scourge, up to what point can we stand the corrupt, how do we punish them? And finally, should the corrupt be excommunicated?
Pope Francis: You ask me a question I have asked myself many times. I put it to myself in this way: do the corrupt have forgiveness? I asked myself like this. And I asked myself when there was an act of…in the province of Catamarca, in Argentina, an act of mistreatment, abuse, the rape of a girl. And there were people stuck there, very attached to political and economic powers in this province.
An article published in La Nacion at that time moved me a lot, and I wrote a small book which is called “Sin and Corruption.” …always we are all sinners, and we know that the Lord is close to us, that he never tires of forgiving. But the difference: God never tires of forgiving, the sinner sometimes wakes up and asks for forgiveness. The problem is that the corrupt get tired of asking for forgiveness and forget how to ask for forgiveness, and this is the serious problem. It’s a state of insensitivity before values, before destruction, before the exploitation of people. They are not able to ask forgiveness, it’s like a condemnation, so it’s very hard to help the corrupt, very hard. But God can do it. I pray for that.
Greg Burke: Holy Father, now Hernan Reyes, from TELAM.
Hernán Reyes: Holiness, the question is from the Spanish language group of journalists. You spoke of this first step that Colombia has made. Today at the Mass, you said that there hasn’t been enough dialogue between the two parts, but was it necessary to incorporate more actors. Do you think it’s possible to replicate this Colombia model in other conflicts in the world?
Pope Francis: Integrating other people. Also today in the homily I spoke of this, taking a passage from the Gospel. Integrating other people. It’s not the first time, in so many conflicts many people have been involved. It’s a way of moving ahead, a sapiential way of politics. There is the wisdom of asking for help, but I believe that today I wished to note it in the homily – which is a message, more than a homily – I think that these technical, let’s say ‘political’, resources help and interventions of the United Nations are sometimes requested to get out of the crisis. But a peace process will go forward only when the people take it in their hands. If the people don’t take it in hand, it can go a bit forward, they arrive at a compromise. It is what I have tried to make heard during this visit: the protagonist of the peace process either is the people or it arrives to a certain point, but when the people take it in hand, they are capable of doing it well… that is the higher road.
Greg Burke: Now, Elena Pinardi.
Elena Pinardi (EBU): Good evening, Holiness. First of all, we would like to ask how you are doing. We saw that you hit your head… how are you? Did you hurt yourself?
Pope Francis: I turned there to greet children and I didn’t see the glass and boom!
Pinardi: The question is this: while we were flying, we passed close to Hurricane Irma, which after causing … deaths and massive damage in the Caribbean islands and Cuba, it’s feared that broad areas of Florida could end up underwater, and 6 million people have had to leave their homes. After Hurricane Harvey, there have been almost simultaneously three hurricanes in the area. Scientists say that the warming of the oceans is a factor that contributes to making the storms and seasonal hurricanes more intense. Is there a moral responsibility for political leaders who reject collaborating with the other nations to control the emission of greenhouse gas? Why do they deny that climate change is also be the work of man?
Pope Francis: Thanks. For the last part, to not forget, whoever denies this should go to the scientists and ask them. They speak very clearly. The scientists are precise. The other day, when the news of that Russian boat came out, I believe, that went from Norway to Japan or Taipei by way of the North Pole without an icebreaker and the photographs showed pieces of ice. To the North Pole, you could go. It’s very, very clear. When that news came from a university, I don’t remember from where, another came out that said, ‘We only have three years to turn back, otherwise the consequences will be terrible.’ I don’t know if three years is true or not, but if we don’t turn back we’re going down, that’s true. Climate change, you see the effects and scientists say clearly which is the path to follow. And all of us have a responsibility, all… everyone… a little one, a big one, a moral responsibility, and to accept from the opinion or make decisions, and we have to take it seriously. I think it’s something that’s not to joke around with. It’s very serious. And you ask me: what is the moral responsibility. Everyone has his. Politicians have their own. Everyone has their own according to the response he gives.
I would say: everyone has their own moral responsibility, first. Second, if one is a bit doubtful that this is not so true, let them ask the scientists. They are very clear. They are not opinions on the air, they are very clear. And then let them decide, and history will judge their decisions. Thanks.
Enzo Romeo (TG2): Good afternoon, Holy Father. I unite myself to the question my colleague made earlier because you frequently in the speeches you gave in Colombia, called again, in some way, to make peace with creation. Respecting the environment as a necessary condition so that a stable social peace may be created. The effects of climate change, here in Italy – I don’t know if you’ve been informed – has caused many deaths in Livorno…
Pope Francis: After three-and-a-half months of drought.
Romeo: … much damage in Rome. We are all concerned by this situation. Why is there a delay in taking awareness, especially by governments, that nevertheless appear to be solicitous perhaps in other areas, for example, in arms trade? We are seeing the crisis in Korea, also about this I would like to have your opinion.
Pope Francis: Why? A phrase comes to me from the Old Testament, I believe from the Psalm: Man is stupid. He is stubborn one who does not see, the only animal of creation that puts his leg in the same hole is man… the horse, no, they don’t do it… There is arrogance, the sufficiency of “it’s not like that,” and then there is the “pocket” God, not only about creation, so many decisions, so many contradictions (…) depend on money. Today, in Cartagena, I started in a part, let’s call it poor, of Cartagena. The other part, the touristic side, luxury, luxury without moral measure… but those who go there don’t realize this, or the socio-political analysts don’t realize… ‘man is stupid,’ the Bible said. It’s like that: when you don’t want to see, you don’t see. You just look in another direction. And of North Korea, I’ll tell the truth, I don’t understand. Truly, I don’t understand that world of geopolitics. It’s very tough for me. But I believe that what I see, there is a struggle of interests that don’t escape me, I truly can’t explain… but the other important thing: we don’t take awareness. Think to Cartagena today. Is this unjust. Can we take awareness? This is what comes to me. Thanks.
Valentina Alazraki, Noticieros Televisa: I’m sorry. Holy Father, every time you meet with youth in any part of the world you always tell them: ‘Don’t let yourselves be robbed of hope, don’t let yourselves be robbed of the future.’ Unfortunately, in the United States they have abolished the law of the “dreamers.” They speak of 800,000 youth: Mexicans, Colombians, from many countries. Do you think that with the abolition of this law the youth lose joy, hope and their future? And, after, abusing your kindness, could you make a small prayer, a small thought, for all the victims of the earthquake in Mexico and of Hurricane Irma? Thank you.
Pope Francis: I have heard of this law. I have not been able to read the articles, how the decision was made. I don’t know it well. Keeping young people away from family is not something that brings good fruit. Every young person has their family. I think that this law, which I think comes not from parliament [sic], but from the executive, if this is the case, which I am not sure, I hope that it will be rethought a little, because I have heard the President of the United States speak as a pro-life man. If he is a good pro-life man, he understands that the family is the cradle of life, and unity must be defended. This is what comes to me. That’s why I’m interested in studying the law well.
Truly, when youth feel, in general, whether in this case or another, exploited, in the end they feel that they have no hope. And who steals it from them? Drugs, other dependencies, suicide…youth suicide is very strong and comes when they are taken out from their roots. Uprooted young people today ask for help, and this is why I insist so much on dialogue between the elderly and the youth. That they talk to their parents, but (also) the elderly. Because the roots are there…[inaudible] to avoid the conflicts that can happen with the nearest roots, with the parents. But today’s youth need to rediscover their roots. Anything that goes against the root robs them of hope. I don’t know if I answered, more or less.
Alazraki: They can be deported from the United States…
Pope Francis: Eh, yes, the lose a root. But truthfully, on this law I don’t want to express myself, because I have not read it and I don’t like to talk about something I don’t understand.
And then, Valentina is Mexican, and Mexico has suffered a lot. I ask everyone for solidarity with the dean (Editor’s note: a reference to the journalist, who is a veteran reporter and on friendly terms with the Pope) and a prayer for the country. Thank you.
Greg Burke: Thank you, Holy Father. Now, Fausto Gasparroni from ANSA.
Fausto Gasparroni: Holiness, in the name of the Italian group, I’d like to pose you a question about the issue of immigrants, particularly about what the Italian Church has recently expressed, let’s say, a sort of comprehension about the new policy of the government of restricting the exit from Libya in boats. It has been written also that about this you had a meeting with the President of the Council, Gentiloni. We’d like to know if effectively in this meeting this topic was spoken about and especially what you think of this policy of closing the exits, considering also the fact that after the immigrants that stay in Libya, as has also been documented by investigations, live in inhuman conditions, in very, very precarious conditions. Thanks.
Pope Francis: The meeting with Minister Gentiloni was a personal meeting and not about that topic. It was before this issue, which came out later, some weeks later. Almost a month later. (It was) before this issue. Secondly, I feel the duty and gratitude toward Italy and Greece because they opened their hearts to immigrants, but it’s not enough to open the heart. The problem of the immigrant is: first an ever open heart, it’s also a commandment of God, no? “Receive them, because you have been a slave in Egypt.” But a government must manage that problem with the virtue proper of a governor: prudence. What does that mean? First: How many places do I have? Second: Not only to receive… (but to) integrate, integrate. I’ve seen examples, here in Italy, of precious integrations. I went to Roma Tre University and three students asked me questions. One was the last one. I looked at her and said, “I know that face.” It was one who, less than a year earlier, had come from Lesbos with me in the plane. She learned the language, is studying biology. They validated her classes and she continued. She learned the language. This is called integrating. On another flight, I think when we were coming back from Sweden, I spoke about the policy of integration of Sweden as a model. But also Sweden said prudently: this number I cannot do. Because there exists the danger of no integration. Third: it’s a humanitarian issue. Humanity takes awareness of these concentration camps, the conditions, the desert… I’ve seen photographs. First of the exploiters. The Italian government gives me the impression that it is doing everything, in humanitarian work, to resolve the problem that it cannot assume. Heart always open, prudence, integration, humanitarian closeness.
And there is a final thing that I want to say, above all for Africa There is a motto, a principle in our collective consciousness: Africa must be exploited. Today in Cartagena we saw an example of human exploitation, in any case. A chief of government said a truth about this: those who flee from war are another problem, but there are many who flee from hunger. Let us invest there so that it may grow, but in the collective consciousness there is the issue that when the developed nations go to Africa it’s to exploit it.
Africa is a friend and must be helped to grow. Today, other problems of war go in another direction. I don’t know if I clarified with this.
Xavier Le Normand (iMedia): Holy Father, today you spoke in the Angelus, you asked that all kinds of violence in political life be rejected. Thursday, after Mass in Bogota, you greeted five Venezuelan bishops. We all know that the Holy See is very committed to a dialogue with this country. For many months you have asked for an end to all violence. But President Maduro, on one hand, has many violent words against the bishops, and on the other hand says that he is with Pope Francis. Would it not be possible to have stronger and perhaps clearer words? Thank you.
Pope Francis: I think that the Holy See has spoken strongly and clearly. What President Maduro says, he can explain. I don’t know what he has in his mind, but the Holy See has done a lot, it sent there – with the working group of four ex-presidents there – it has sent a first-level nuncio. After speaking with the people, it spoke publicly. Many times in the Angelus I have spoken about the situation, always looking for an exit, helping, offering help to get out. It seems that it’s a very hard thing, and the most painful is the humanitarian problem, the many people who escape or suffer…we must help to resolve it in anyway (possible). I think the UN must also make itself heard there to help.
Greg Burke: Thank you, Holiness. I think we have to go.
Pope Francis: For the turbulence? They say there is some turbulence and we need to go. Many thanks for your work. And once more I’d like to thank the example of the Colombian people. I would like to conclude with an image. What most struck me about the Colombians in the four cities was the people in the streets, greeting me. What must struck me is that the father, mother, raised up their children to help them see the Pope and so the Pope could bless them, as if saying, ‘This is my treasure, this is my hope. This is my future.’ I believe you. This struck me. The tenderness. The eyes of those fathers, of those mothers. Precious, precious. This is a symbol, a symbol of hope, of future. A people that is capable of having children and then shows them to you, make them see as well, as if saying, ‘This is my treasure,’ is a people that has hope and future. Many thanks.
[…]
Mixed thoughts run through the mind taking in all of Leo XIV’s glorification of the poor. True the Franciscan love and especially identification with the poor, as we find the cabbage eaters OFM Capuchins is commendable. But these men like Padre Pio lived in relative poverty. That was their mode of glorification of the poor surrendering all to possess all in Christ.
That the poor are elevated to doctors of the Church is a stretch. Although not all poor are saints simply because of their poorness. Many need our teachings, often some tough love. As Paul said if they don’t work don’t feed them. Pope Leo addresses that as misguided arrogance. Is it? Give all we can. That includes our intelligent assessment of justice and rectification.
I agree with you. First, I do not understand why the poor should have “a privileged place” in society. To me (an egalitarian) no one should. Poor (and others) must be simply helped to live a dignified life. It has been done for centuries by the Church; it is happening now as well. But there is one peculiar problem of our time: the Church now is being restricted by the state in HOW she can help. Pope Leo says nothing about, for example, state governments forcing Catholic medical care to provide abortions or teaching institutions to accept “LGBTQ ideology” or do other things which are against Church’s conscience.
But of course, how can PL speak of that if he himself appears to be a tool for injection of the anti-Christian values into the Church? This is why I have an impression of his message to be strangely reminiscent of a politician who proclaims “the hegemony of proletarians”. Of course, proletarians/poor are being used, as always.
Yes. There’s a disordinate focus on the poor, inclusive of migrants, the abject, to the virtual exclusion of the fullness of Christ, who is the revelation of our perfect humanness.
He speaks of the poor as the flesh of Christ as if poverty is his incarnation. Poverty is a condition not a revelation that defines Christianity, as such a form of false reverence.
a Since the Pope loves “immigrants” so much he could start by ending the Vatican’s harsh punishments of those illegally entering the Pope’s realm:
Vatican Promises Stiff Penalties for Illegal Aliens Crossing its Border
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2025/01/16/vatican-promises-stiff-penalties-for-illegal-aliens-crossing-its-border/
b Given the enormous wealth that he now controls, the Pope could start by investing much of it to create businesses that produce good useful things at lower prices or good food at lower prices and hire the poor to work in those businesses. That will help the poor and everyone far more than his pontification. And it will make the poor gain self-esteem by making them independent of those who provide “charity” for them. According to Market Place, the wealth he now serendipitously (he did not work to make any of it…) controls is immense: “The wealth of the Catholic Church is difficult to determine definitively due to its decentralized structure and lack of centralized financial reporting. Estimates vary widely, but the Church’s collective assets are substantial. One assessment suggests the Catholic Church has at least $73 billion in assets, based on media reports and financial statements, though it likely holds billions more. This figure includes vast holdings of real estate, investments, and priceless art, with the Church’s property globally spanning nearly 277,000 square miles—roughly the size of Texas.”
I also had mixed emotions reading Leo’s message. While I certainly agree with his statement “the worst discrimination which the poor suffer is the lack of spiritual care”. I can’t help but think of how many poor brothers and sisters could have been helped with the billions, Billions of dollars spent on legal fees because of the recent church scandals.
In drawing from Evangeli Gaudium (2013), Pope Leo wisely does NOT repeat the ambivalent, exploitable, italicized and superimposed (?) four “principles”:
FIRST, “realities are more important than ideas,” possibly risking/enabling concrete NOMINALISM?
SECOND, “time is greater than space,” possibly risking/enabling amnesiac HISTORICISM against “backwardists”?
THIRD, “unity prevails over conflict,” possibly risking/enabling harmonizing/word-game CLERICALISM as in Fiducia Supplicans?
FOURTH, “the whole is greater than the part,” possibly endangering Subsidiarity and enabling plebiscite GLOBALISM?
And, Leo also DOES include spiritual poverty, as understood earlier by Pope John Paul II who wrote in Centesimus Annus (1991):
“This [preferential] option [for the poor] is not limited to material poverty, since it is well known that there are many other forms of poverty, especially in modern society–not only economic but cultural and spiritual poverty as well [….] [Despite ‘technological and economic progress’] In the countries of the West, different forms of poverty are being experienced by groups which live on the margins of society, by the elderly and the sick, by the victims of consumerism, and even more immediately by so many refugees and migrants. In the developing countries, tragic crises loom on the horizon unless internationally coordinated measures are taken before it is too late” (n. 57).
“Leo ends his exhortation by emphasizing the duty of almsgiving, which he claims has fallen out of fashion, even among believers.”
Well, when the government conscripts forty, fifty or more percent of your income, there isn’t much to give. When people are tempted to avoid or delay marriage or parenting because their productive efforts are conscripted to others and you are working long hours or multiple jobs, there should be some consideration given to those in those circumstances.
Thank you. That’s a good point.
The state has become the almsgiver using our tax dollars to fund social welfare programs. And not very efficiently either.
I enjoyed it. I like Pope Leo’s writing style. Meaty but not too filling. Glad he tied all into the poverty of Our Lord. It was a great way to launch and fitting on the feast day of St. Francis, the Poverello. Emphasis on the Poor Christ is crucial for our day. The organized patristic quotes were great. Leo seemed to get the best out of Franciscus. Am looking forward to bringing the document to prayer.
But when is he going to apologize to the Catholic faithful for backing Cupich’s dumb decision to give an award to a pro-abort Catholic politician? When?
Never
MrsHess: Sad but true.
“There are those who say: ‘Our task is to pray and teach sound doctrine’ [and argue] that it is the government’s job to care for [the poor], or that it would be better not to lift them out of their poverty but simply to teach them to work,” he writes.
In all my conversations with Catholics and non-Catholics, I have never met a person who has articulated this point of view. I don’t wish to be critical of Leo, who is still finding his footing, but I’m hoping this assertion is a holdover in the doc from his predecessor.
I guess they never taught the evils of the “strawman fallacy” at Villanova. From what I’ve heard from a friend who also attended there-I’m not surprised.
TPR:A “strawman” is an apt image for the Franciscan and Leonine Pontificates. In fact, in the Spirit of Halloween, some creative soul ought to whip up an IA image of a Pope in costume as a scarecrow. It would be fitting since these Popes love unique symbols – like Pachamamas and blocks of ice.
I have nothing more to give to the poor because I have become poorer than the poor, because I was victimized by the poor.
I am an 82-year-old widow, a naturalized US citizen for over 50 years, from a poor country. I have a “special need” adult son who can’t hold a job, so he’s dependent on me. Sometimes, in his frustration, he mistreats me. But that’s another story.
The only things I had after my husband died was a small pension and a house. Half of the house I rented to a poor migrant family, but during the Covid’s eviction moratorium, they were allowed not to pay rent. I supported that family for 2-1/2 years, during which all my savings were spent. The government did reimburse me for their arrears, but at the same time, it increased my property tax by 100%. It took another six months of rent-free living for my tenants who did not want to leave the premises until I sued them for eviction (which was not cheap.)
I had to cancel my life insurance, health insurance, and all automatic payments and borrowed money to cover the tax. (I could not afford to challenge the government assessment because I didn’t have the money for a private assessor and a tax lawyer.)
My bank account balance plummeted to zero. Have you ever had a zero balance on your bank account? It was a nightmare.
I sold my house as-is, at half the price of the government assessment and paid my debts. My son and I lived in and out of motels for three months, and now we’re living in a trailer park. I don’t know how long we will last with the little money I gained from selling the house.
After Covid, when the state government was processing application claims for reimbursement of unpaid rent, I went to Catholic Charities to ask for their help because it has been designated by the government to process the claims. Catholic Charities turned me down because I was not eligible for help because my tenants and I had the same address. I had to hire a lawyer to help me, and that was not cheap.
I have mostly forgiven my poor tenants for what they did to me. But each time I see the illegal immigrants being treated better than American citizens with their necessities, I feel bad. My confessor helped console me by saying, “Sometimes, God tolerates injustices.”
I don’t know why, but I feel very bad reading Pope Leo’s exhortation. I wish I knew why. I suddenly felt like crying.
But when is he going to apologize to the Catholic faithful for backing Cupich’s dumb decision to give an award to a pro-abort Catholic politician? When??
Trying to send this a second time.People who laud illegals as “great people”, ” hard workers”, “family types”,etc, miss the point, probably intentionally. Whether or not they are nice doesnt matter. That isnt the issue. They broke the law. And many keep on breaking the law after they arrive because of their illegal status. They often get paid in cash and dont pay taxes. As recent horrific accidents show, they sometimes drive without a drivers license, understanding English road signs, and without insurance. They often use fake ID. They put unwanted pressure on our schools and medical services, injuring the US Citizens, often children, who badly need those services themselves. They take American jobs. And please spare me the old whine they are jobs Americans won’t so. Americans DID those jobs before we were inundated with illegals who will work for a pittance. Twenty years ago my landscaper, house painter and roofer were ALL Americans!! Americans WILL do those jobs if paid a decent wage.
I am sorry that these folks face daunting issues in their own nations. But they are indeed the responsibility of the nation of their birth. We have our OWN poor and needy to care for, without illegals competing for scarce resources here. How many MORE millions of them would be here if Biden (or Harris) had been re-elected?? Enough to damage the country permanently. This is not personal. This is about quality of life for Americans, and indeed, our survival as a nation where law is respected.
I find the Bishop’s constant carping about the poor illegals to be unjust and wearisome. And I find this pope to be a big disappointment on this issue too. Flights of fantasy are all very nice until someone has to pay the bills. Do they have any idea how many BILLIONS of people would attempt to come here if they could?
And finally, whatever happened to respecting the law and rendering to Caesar??? I dont recall Jesus ever suggesting flouting the law, or physically attacking local authorities charged with keeping the peace. Wasnt it He who directed the apostles to find the fish with a coin in its mouth specifically to pay the required tax and thus OBEY the law? Laws are needed to help to keep civil order. It is not up to the illegals to decide which of our laws they will obey or ignore. To allow that decision to anyone, no matter how “nice” or “hard-working”, is to invite chaos and the eventual breakdown of civilization. No thanks. Come legally or not at all. Its OUR choice, not theirs.
We have enabled those people to break the law LJ. Previous administrations gave migrants the message that our back door was unofficially open and even provided a script to request asylum for those who turned themselves in.
I 100% agree that the border should be secured but we need to find a way to utilize those who have been a benefit to their communities and kept out of trouble. Especially those brought here as children.As a taxpayer I don’t want my money used to fly a hotel’s housekeeper back to Honduras or El Salvador. Find her a visa or residency status and let’s move forward.
US citizens can work hard and be dependable but that’s becoming less so in the service industry.
Mrs C, we tried that before–amnesty. I think it was under Reagan. It only encouraged people to come illegally. If they are here illegally, they must return and go through legal channels.
(I will admit, that the Federal Gov’t should do it’s part by making the system more streamlined and efficient.)
Excellent points, mrscracker. Spot on in your analysis and conclusions.
A voice of reason. Thanks for your thoughtful and accurate analysis.
Indeed LJ. They broke the law. Should not be rewarded in any way (yes as Reagan did by giving amnesty to millions; see how much that helped to deter the invasion) any more than any other law breaker. What we do not tolerate in our own houses we should not tolerate in our country. How many of us would not call the police to expel a mother and a child who entered our house through a door we left open and made herself at home in the living room or basement or utility room or kitchen? This mother is very nice and a good mother, and she may offer to clean the house while living in our living room. See what the Pope does with illegal aliens who enter HIS realm:
Vatican Promises Stiff Penalties for Illegal Aliens Crossing its Border
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2025/01/16/vatican-promises-stiff-penalties-for-illegal-aliens-crossing-its-border/
I strive to carefully consider the points raised in Pope Leo’s recent letter, Dilexi Te, regarding our Christian responsibility to the poor. This subject naturally brings a measure of cautious thought, as the practical application of our faith in this area requires a nuanced understanding of Scripture.
The first reference point is in John 12:1-8. In this passage, Mary of Bethany anoints Christ’s feet with expensive oil and perfume. Judas Iscariot objects, arguing that the perfume, valued at a year’s wages, should have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor. However, our Savior’s response to Judas, “You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me”. This is essential context of my thoughts.
This event illustrates that not every valuable possession must be dedicated solely to poverty relief. The focus on the poor, while paramount, does not automatically supersede all other forms of devotion, charity, or sacred use. The discussion of our duty to the poor, therefore, must be approached with a complete understanding of scriptural teaching, recognizing that “sell all we have and give to the poor” is not the beginning and end of the matter for every follower in every circumstance.
Another papal exhortation that has a lot of words but no real solutions other than the usual conviction of free market economies as “evil” (my word and not his). More often than not the Pope’s fail to offer a solution, should be move to socialism as a solution or is it simply communism which unfortunately is also hateful of God. What is the solution? I am confused, should Catholics, Christians following Jesus give all to the Church as detailed in Acts when followers sold their property and gave to the new Church to share? We the flock that Pope Leo shepherds is waiting for his answer and solution to that which he (and Pope Francis) detail as bad/evil/wrong.
“I am confused, should Catholics, Christians following Jesus give all to the Church as detailed in Acts”.
Diocesan bankruptcies and the problems at the Vatican Bank suggest otherwise.
I haven’t read the text, but this article’s summary seems to project positive points. I liked the Pope’s reminder that the poor need sound doctrine and spiritual care as well as material help. That’s often forgotten by liberal-minded people. I also liked the way he refused to accept contemporary economic orthodoxy, which asserts that economics is a self-contained system that does not have to do with morality directly.
The poor are neither more or less virtuous than others. As my grandmother said: “Being poor is nothing to be ashamed of, but neither is it something to be proud of.”
This reads as a regurgitation of Latino Liberation Theology that addresses the poor’s economic poverty to the exclusion of the spiritual poverty. How much has the Modern Church compromised her treatment of the poor due to financial resources being compromised to settle the litigation resulting from aberrant sexual behavior tolerated (if not encouraged) within the priesthood? All we know is the Modern Church wants more money from the laity and the federal government with little to no transparency nor accountability. For many one cannot, should not trust what cannot and shall never be verified. The modern administrative Church should welcome 3rd Party audits in all honesty prepared to give their testimonies that they are great stewards of the purse strings to which they have been entrusted with by God.
I read the letter. All I can say is, that was a waste of a good half hour.
There is no one more poor than the preborn child in the womb targeted for abortion.
There is no immigrant more needy than the preborn child who is not allowed to travel safely from his mother’s womb to the world.
There is no one more in need of human mercy and compassion than the preborn child whom others would rather destroy than help.
The poorest among us, the immigrants most in need of our help, and the ones who most need our mercy and compassion are preborn children.
“You did it to me.” — Jesus
I am deeply offended by El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz’ ambush of the pope by bringing to him bundles of letters and a video from aliens who break US immigration law but now claim to be victims of that law.
More specifically, the letters complain that Trump is the villain, without understanding that the president did not make the law – he is simply enforcing it.
I like the pope’s exhortation about the poor, but he does not distinguish between legal immigrants and the illegal aliens. He says the Church “knows that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.” With his veiled criticism of the US immigration system, you can see that it’s the illegal aliens that the pope gives preferential option to. He is almost encouraging people to break the law.
If illegal immigrants are the “face of Christ” that the pope says in his exhortation, what about the legal ones? The legal ones follow US immigration law, show respect to the host country and its sovereignty, but are made to wait in line for decades to be let in (up to 20 years) while the illegals, until recently, broke in like an invading army – by the caravans – waving their flags and giving the one-finger salute to citizens and legals.
They overwhelm the system and elbow aside those who have been waiting in the legal immigration line. They complain about the broken immigration system, but it’s them that broke the system.
We’ve seen pictures and videos of the insulting, invading caravans, yet those pictures were not what Bishop Seitz showed the pope. No, of course, not.
What the illegals did and even now doing – with their temerity to bring their complaints to the pope – is the real slap on the face of Christ. They lie – they broke through the back door and expect the householders to make them co-owners of the house. Isn’t that a sin against the Seventh Commandment?
God help me. I am so angry, I could cry. Is it a sin not to agree with the pope on this exhortation?
I found it very useful. I think this is very important aspect as a Christian. It is the beginning of his office and Pope will be writing many more letters and books regarding what the Catholic Church stands for. That’s the mission we all of have. The poor are the people whom we see Jesus as Mother Theresa says. We need them and they need us. Thank you very much for this Missionary thought.