Pope Francis on Monday urged countries to greatly improve their welcome to migrants and stop collective expulsions, saying migrants' dignity and right to protection trumps national security concerns.
Francis' politically pointed message was made in view of the Catholic Church's 2018 world refugee day, celebrated Jan. 14. It comes amid mounting anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe and beyond following waves of migrant arrivals and Islamic extremist attacks.
In the message, Francis demanded governments welcome, protect, promote and integrate migrants, saying Jesus' message of love is rooted in welcoming the "rejected strangers of every age."
He demanded a simplified process of granting humanitarian and temporary visas and rejected arbitrary and collective expulsions as "unsuitable." He said the principle of ensuring each person's dignity "obliges us to always prioritize personal safety over national security."
Francis has made refugees a priority of his pontificate, making his first trip outside Rome in 2013 to the island of Lampedusa, ground zero in Europe's migration crisis. He has repeatedly spoken out for migrants' rights, demanded countries build "bridges not walls," and personally brought a dozen Syrian refugees back to Rome with him when he visited a Greek refugee camp in 2016.
Ignoring critics who say his calls are unrealistic and naive, Francis insisted in the new message that border guards must be trained to protect migrants and that each new arrival, regardless of legal status, must be guaranteed access to basic services beyond health care.
That extends to guaranteeing access to consulates, the justice system and the ability to open a bank account and survive financially, he said.
Unaccompanied minors, he said, require even greater protection, including guaranteeing them citizenship and access to schooling, as well as foster programs rather than detention centers.
He called for policies that support family reunification, employment opportunities and accelerated citizenship procedures to improve migrants' abilities to integrate.
His call was immediately rejected by the leader of Italy's anti-immigrant Northern League party, which has opposed government proposals to change Italy's law to accelerate citizenship for children born in Italy to non-Italians.
"If you want to do it in the Vatican, go ahead," Matteo Salvini wrote on Facebook. "But as a Catholic, I don't think Italy can welcome and support the whole world."
An earthquake with a reported magnitude of 3.6 struck a popular tourist spot near the Ischia volcano in Italy on Monday evening. Images from the area show people being helped out of badly damaged buildings.
A number of people have been injured or are missing, local authorities say.
A local woman has been killed in the earthquake, Giuseppe Silvitelli, deputy mayor of Casamicciola, told Rai News, adding that the body is lying under the rubble and has yet to be retrieved.
Rescuers say the quake may have left more casualties, as it caused multiple buildings to collapse.
Three children have been retrieved from the rubble in Casamicciola Terme amid a massive search and rescue operation, local newspaper Il Dispari reported. Firefighters and rescuers are continuing to search for people presumed buried under collapsed buildings.
Meanwhile, local authorities have dispatched a ferry and helicopters to evacuate people willing to leave the island, La Repubblica reported. Angelo Borrelli, head of the local civil protection department, said another two ferries, capable of transporting up to 650 passengers each, will also be sent to Ischia. Several injured people have already been airlifted to Naples for medical care.
The quake was recorded at about 9pm local time at a depth of 10km off the Italian coast, not far from the city of Naples, local media report.
In its Casamicciola commune, "an inhabited building collapsed in Maio Square," Italian Rai News reported, citing local officials. A church was also destroyed.
"There are several injured and some people are missing," Rai News quoted the Casamicciola deputy mayor as saying.
Dai primi dati il terremoto a #ischia fatto più danni di quanto era sembrato. Crolli e anche di possibili vittime. Gente per strada pic.twitter.com/BuN44Czrhv— Francesco Borrelli (@NotizieFrance) August 21, 2017
Electrical blackouts have been reported in the Naples area, and people have been reportedly evacuated from "many hotels."
— Vincenzo (@precy80) August 21, 2017
Carabinieri, police and firefighters are operating in the affected areas, with local authorities describing the effects of the tremors as "very strong."
#Ischia gli amici inviano foto di #Casamicciola. Tanta paura e tristezza. Noi stiamo bene ma qui comune di #Ischiavia vai sirene 😔😢 pic.twitter.com/jS3HtCnOxy— luisa lore vercillo (@ellellevercillo) August 21, 2017
The volcanic island of Ischia was last hit by a devastating earthquake back in 1883, leaving more than 2,000 people dead. The disaster also destroyed the towns of Casamicciola Terme and Lacco Ameno.
One day in the future, history will record with great astonishment how military leaders, politicians on both sides of the aisle, intelligence professionals, and others were catastrophically unprofessional for 16 years after 9/11/2001, thus putting the American people in grave peril.
Understanding the Threat’s (UTT) has trained thousands of local, state and federal officers/agents on the Islamic threat (sharia and the jihadi network in the US), the hard-left Marxist/Socialist/Communist threat, and how these Movements work together to bring down the U.S. government.
The response to UTT’s training is always the same: (1) none of those in attendance, including FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force agents/officers, have ever heard the information presented, and (2) they all agree it is critical to protecting their communities. See some comments here.
When UTT’s President John Guandolo was recruited out of the FBI by the Department of Defense (end of 2008) he briefed a number of 3 and 4 star generals and admirals, numerous Members of Congress, the Chairmen of the House Intelligence, Homeland Security, and Judiciary Committees, former Directors of intelligence agencies, former National Security Advisors, and others. None of these good men and women were aware of the massive jihadi network in the United States, nor what sharia is and how it operates to drive the Global Islamic Movement.
UTT’s Chris Gaubatz’s experience (2008) undercover inside the headquarters of U.S. Hamas doing business as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) revealed “America’s largest muslim civil rights group” – as they are called – is engaged in fraud, sedition, espionage, and terrorism. Yet CAIR and its leaders are unimpeded in their work by U.S. agencies sworn to dismantle them.
Today, the situation is significantly worse than it was nine years ago. The enemy has gained significant ground in the war while our leaders have barely scratched the surface on understanding the danger facing the Republic.
The Muslim Brotherhood has increased their ground game:
*Insinuated Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers into Mr. Trump’s administration and utilized their network to cease efforts to designate the MB a terrorist organization – with support from Mrs. Clinton.
*Created an army of attorneys to do battle in U.S. courts to slow down judicial action by US government
*Expanded their Islamophobia campaign to bring social media giants Facebook, Twitter and others onboard to stifle free speech, specifically truthful speech about Islam.
*Broadened their cooperative efforts with hard-left Marxist organizations to directly attack those individuals and organizations speaking truth about Islam.
* Leaders within the Islamic Movement: (Hatem Bazian) call for an intifada (violent uprising) in the United States; (Linda Sarsour) call for jihad against the President; numerous U.S. imams are calling for the annihilation of Jews here; and many Islamic leaders are openly calling for sharia to be imposed in the United States.
Now, the violent war UTT has warned about and predicted inside the United States has begun.
The Islamic Movement’s initial tool for violence in the United States is the anarchists and “domestic terrorist” hard-left Marxist/Socialist Communist organizations, including Antifa, Black Lives Matters, and dozens of groups forming together.
Many of these people and groups call for the killing of the President, as did Missouri State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal.
These are the Brown Shirts of the 21st century.
These violent and subversive Movements have hundreds if not thousands of groups giving them direct support like the Southern Poverty Law Center, J-Street, Transgender Law Center, Center for New Community, Franciscan Action Network, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, Interfaith Alliance, Jews Against Islamophobia, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, American Center for Outreach, ACLU, Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, Arab American Institute, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, NAACP, National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, National Lawyers Guild, Anti-Defamation League and many others.
For a more extensive list of the George Soros funded Marxists/anarchist groups click HERE.
These two massive Movements in the United States funded by external and internal entities whose stated goal is the destruction of the United States. They publish doctrine, websites, speeches, and books which call for the overthrow of our government, and then take actions in furtherance of these goals.
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