The Document of Citizenship is held by all; all have a place on Earth.
Pope Francis gives the lead, again.
‘Baby Jesus was born in a manger because his parents were strangers in a strange land who had to rely on the kindness of strangers, according to Pope Francis, leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.’
Pope Francis used his speech to urge kindness and compassion towards refugees, calling on the world to see in the weak and vulnerable baby Jesus in the children who suffer the most from war, migration and environmental crises caused by the ‘outdated’ modes of human activity in the world today.
Defense of immigrants and refugees, calls for peace, a new social imagination
On Sunday, the Pope issued a strong defense of immigration in his Christmas Eve mass, saying faith demands foreigners be welcomed, even as support for far-right parties has risen in Europe.
Mary and Joseph, he said, were immigrants, who struggled to find a safe place to stay in Bethlehem.
"They had to leave their people, their home and their land," Francis told an audience at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. "This was no comfortable or easy journey for a young couple about to have a child. ... At heart, they were full of hope and expectation because of the child about to be born; yet their steps were weighed down by the uncertainties and dangers that attend those who have to leave their home behind."
Rather than react to migration and those seeking refuge with hostility, Francis said, people should work to create a "new social imagination ... in which none have to feel that there is no room for them on this earth."
While some far-right parties in Europe have made Christian identity part of their platforms, often in opposition to Muslim immigrants or refugees, Francis said respect for migration is an integral part of Christianity, as the faithful's "document of citizenship" comes from God, not any specific country.
"True power and authentic freedom are shown in honoring and assisting the weak and the frail," he said.
Helping people fleeing home for a better life, or just to survive, is a Christian imperative, according to the Catholic leader. After all, the Pope reminded followers, Jesus taught that “true power and authentic freedom are shown in honoring and assisting the weak and the frail.”
As Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, the pope depicted suffering reflected “in the faces of little children,” citing war and other tensions in the Middle East and Africa.
“Today, as the winds of war are blowing in our world and an outdated model of development continues to produce human, societal and environmental decline, Christmas invites us to focus on the sign of the Child and to recognize him in the faces of little children, especially those for whom, like Jesus, “there is no place in the inn” (Lk 2:7).”
“We see Jesus in the children of the Middle East who continue to suffer because of growing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. On this festive day, let us ask the Lord for peace for Jerusalem and for all the Holy Land. Let us pray that the will to resume dialogue may prevail between the parties and that a negotiated solution can finally be reached, one that would allow the peaceful coexistence of two States within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders. May the Lord also sustain the efforts of all those in the international community inspired by good will to help that afflicted land to find, despite grave obstacles the harmony, justice and security that it has long awaited.
We see Jesus in the faces of Syrian children still marked by the war that, in these years, has caused such bloodshed in that country….
We see Jesus in the children of Africa, especially those who are suffering in South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Nigeria.
We see Jesus in the children worldwide wherever peace and security are threatened by the danger of tensions and new conflicts.
We see Jesus in the children of unemployed parents who struggle to offer their children a secure and peaceful future…
We see Jesus in the many children forced to leave their countries to travel alone in inhuman conditions and who become an easy target for human traffickers. Through their eyes we see the drama of all those forced to emigrate and risk their lives to face exhausting journeys that end at times in tragedy.”
‘Recalling that Mary gave birth to Jesus in a manger because “there was no place for them in the inn,” Francis highlighted the biblical story in a present day in which the White House has restricted travel for people from predominantly Muslim countries, the Myanmar military has carried out ethnic cleansing against a stateless Rohingya minority, and wars, human trafficking and the indifference of wealthy nations have resulted in millions of families languishing in squalid refugee camps.
Using the example of the holy family to emphasize the “dangers that attend those who have to leave their home behind,” Francis noted that in Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary found a city “that had no room or place for the stranger from afar,” and which “seemed to want to build itself up by turning its back on others.” Instead, the pope said, Jesus “comes to give all of us our document of citizenship.”
‘He has repeatedly called on Western nations to resist the pull of nationalism — as well as the destabilizing fear of migrants — and to open their doors. On Christmas Eve, he recalled the famous appeal of John Paul II to opponents of Communism, that they should “Be not afraid,” “open wide the doors” and have confidence that their cause was just and would prevail.