Yahoo – AFP, Angus MacKinnon, May 6, 2016
Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis said Friday he dreamed of a Europe in which "being a migrant is not a crime", as he urged EU leaders to "tear down the walls" and build a fairer society.
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| German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with Pope Francis during a private audience at the Vatican on May 6, 2016 (AFP Photo/Alberto Pizzoli) |
Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis said Friday he dreamed of a Europe in which "being a migrant is not a crime", as he urged EU leaders to "tear down the walls" and build a fairer society.
Invoking
the memory of the EU founding fathers' pursuit of integration in the aftermath
of World War II, the pontiff said they inspired because they had "dared to
change radically the models" that had led to war.
"Today
more than ever, their vision inspires us to build bridges and tear down
walls," he told a Vatican audience including German Chancellor Angela
Merkel, who has been at the centre of the EU's attempts to resolve its biggest
refugee crisis since the war ended in 1945.
 |
Pope
Francis visits refugees living
on the Greek island of Lesbos in April
2016 (AFP
Photo/Filippo Monteforte)
|
"I
dream of a Europe where being a migrant is not a crime but a summons to greater
commitment on behalf of the dignity of every human being," he said.
Francis's
comments came in a speech as the 79-year-old pontiff was presented with the
EU's Charlemagne Prize for his contribution to European unification.
Having
unexpectedly decided to accept the award, Francis delivered a typically
hard-hitting message to listeners that also included the heads of the EU's main
institutions, the Council, the Commission, the Parliament and its central bank.
"What
has happened to you, the Europe of humanism, the champion of human rights,
democracy and freedom?" he asked. "What has happened to you, Europe,
the home of poets, philosophers, artists, musicians, and men and women of
letters?"
Francis has
made the cause of migrants trying to reach Europe one of the defining themes of
his papacy.
He has
regularly railed against the "indifference" of western societies to
their plight and last month he made a high-profile visit to Lesbos, the Greek
island on the frontline of the crisis, returning to the Vatican with three
Syrian families seeking asylum from the civil war ravaging their homeland.
 |
European
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker speaks during a news
conference
following a ceremony at the Vatican, during which Pope Francis was
awarded 2016
Charlemagne Prize, in Rome, Italy, May 5, 2016. Reuters/Max Rossi
|
A memory
transfusion needed
He has also
attacked what he says is an arbitrary division being made between asylum
seekers and so-called economic migrants -- a distinction at the heart of Merkel
and other EU leaders' vision of how to resolve the crisis.
Borrowing a
phrase from writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, the Argentinian pontiff
said Friday that Europe needed a "memory transfusion" to free itself
from the temptation of "quick and easy short-term political gains."
And after
that reference to the migrant crisis, Francis went on to say Europe had to
fundamentally change its economic model to give the continent's youth the
security they needed to build a new world.
"If we
want to rethink our society, we need to create dignified and well-paying jobs,
especially for our young people," he said.
 |
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for the 2016 Charlemagne Prize ceremony,
during which Pope Francis will be awarded, at the Vatican May 6, 2016. REUTERS/
Stefano
Rellandini
|
"To do
so requires coming up with new, more inclusive and equitable economic models,
aimed not at serving the few, but at benefiting ordinary people and society as
a whole.
European
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Parliament President
Martin Schulz explained the decision to give the award to such a regular and
prominent critic of the EU in a column for France's Le Monde.
"Some
will joke that the European Union must be in a bad way if it is in need of
papal assistance," they wrote.
"We
are convinced that Pope Francis deserves this prize, however, simply because he
has sent Europe a message of hope.
"Perhaps
we needed an Argentinian to turn his outsider's gaze on the innermost values
which bind us Europeans together, to remind us of our strengths.
"After
all, at times when the words 'Europe' and 'crisis' are often uttered in the
same breath it is easy to forget what Europe has achieved and what it is
capable of."
Related Articles:
 |
Pope
Francis welcomes a group of Syrian refugees after landing at Ciampino airport
in Rome following a visit at the Moria refugee
camp on April 16, 2016 in the Greek
island of
Lesbos (AFP Photo/Filippo Monteforte)
|
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“… Human Nature is Changing
There's a new concept afoot, a change in Human nature. We've spoken about this before. How many of you studied European history? And in school, did your mind fill up with all of the dates you had to memorize? Who conquered whom and when? Over and over and over, every single country had their turn conquering another country. Borders moved constantly. As far back as you want to go, that's what Humans did. They separated, gathered, and conquered. But as little as 50 years ago, it all stopped.
We've said this before. Fifty years ago, a seed, an idea, was planted at the end of World War II. "Let's put these European countries together," they said. "Let's even drop the borders and eventually give them one currency." Do this and they'll never war again, they predicted, for countries with common economic sources don't go to war! And that's exactly what's happened. Did it work? It's fairly fresh, but their money is threatening to take over the strength of your money, did you notice? It's worth more than yours. They still struggle to make it work and balance it. But then again, you do the same in the United States, always fine tuning the unity.
South America is considering the same thing right now. The seeds are being planted in Brazil. Within a generation, they would love to see the borders dropped and one currency. Can they do it? Perhaps. Perhaps it will take longer. Why do it? Because they see the European Union with the strongest currency on Earth. We've said this before. Here is a prediction: Perhaps not in your time, but there'll come a day when there are only five currencies in the world, because continents will start understanding that unification creates peace and prosperity. Separation creates chaos. What a concept. …”
South America is considering the same thing right now. The seeds are being planted in Brazil. Within a generation, they would love to see the borders dropped and one currency. Can they do it? Perhaps. Perhaps it will take longer. Why do it? Because they see the European Union with the strongest currency on Earth. We've said this before. Here is a prediction: Perhaps not in your time, but there'll come a day when there are only five currencies in the world, because continents will start understanding that unification creates peace and prosperity. Separation creates chaos. What a concept. …”
"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)
“. New Tolerance
Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.
Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."
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