Pope: Dictatorships Begin with Slanderous Communication and the Destruction of the Free Press

via Vatican News:

Pope Francis pointed out that even today this method of slanderous communication is used in many countries.  Media and communication law is brushed aside with the entire communication system handed to a company or a group that weakens democratic life with slander and falsehood. The judges then condemn these weakened institutions and destroyed people.  That’s how dictatorship works, the Pope said.

The Pope said all dictatorships began by adulterating communication by putting it in the hands of an unscrupulous person or government….

The Pope said many persons and nations have been destroyed by evil and slanderous dictatorships, such as in the last century.  He particularly pointed to the example of the persecution of Jews, who because of a slanderous communication did not deserve to live and thus ended up at Auschwitz.

Calling it a horror, the Pope said it happens even today in small societies, in persons and in many countries.

Pope Francis Criticizes Trump’s Family Separation Policy

via Reuters:

Pope Francis has criticized the Trump administration’s policy of separating migrant families at the Mexican border, saying populism is not the answer to the world’s immigration problems.

Speaking to Reuters, the Pope said he supported recent statements by U.S. Catholic bishops who called the separation of children from their parents “contrary to our Catholic values” and “immoral”.

“It’s not easy, but populism is not the solution,” Francis said on Sunday night.

Pope Francis: Never Forget the Shoah

via Vatican News:

In a message signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis conveys his joy for the symphony entitled “The Suffering of the Innocents”, composed by Kiko Argüello. “Rooted in and inspired by the Biblical lamentation, this symphony commemorates the many victims of the Shoah,” the message says. The memory of the Shoah and its atrocious violence must never be forgotten. Instead, the message states, “it should be a constant warning for all of us of an obligation to reconciliation, of reciprocal comprehension and love toward our ‘elder brothers’, the Jews”.

Pope Francis Compares Aborting Children with Disabilities to the Eugenics of the Nazis

Pope Francis recently spoke about those who have procured an abortion after using prenatal testing to see if their child had any malformations or genetic problems.

via the AP:

“The first proposal in such a case is, ‘Do we get rid of it?’” Francis said. “The murder of children. To have an easy life, they get rid of an innocent.”

Francis recalled that as a child he was horrified to hear stories from his teacher about children “thrown from the mountain” if they were born with malformations.

“Today we do the same thing,” he said.

“Last century, the whole world was scandalized by what the Nazis did to purify the race. Today, we do the same thing but with white gloves,” Francis said.

The pope urged families to accept children “as God gives them to us.”

Francis has repeated the strict anti-abortion stance of his predecessors and integrated it into his broader condemnation of what he calls today’s “throw-away culture.” He has frequently lamented how the sick, the poor, the elderly and the unborn are considered unworthy of protection and dignity by a society that prizes instead individual prowess.

Archbishop Gomez Denounces Cruelty of Tearing Children Away from Their Parents at the Border

Earlier today, Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles tweeted:

Cardinal Seán: Our Country’s Immigration Policy Destroys Families, Traumatizes Parents, and Terrorizes Children

via Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston:

“Immigration policy presents many challenges for any country. Developing sound immigration policy that respects the needs of a nation and those of the international community is a complex and challenging process. It always involves reconciling domestic priorities and global demands, strategy and tactics, objectives and means. At its core, immigration policy is about people, young and old, alone or in families, often fearful and abandoned. Immigration policy is a moral question that cannot be separated from decisions of what it is right and wrong, of justice and injustice. It is about respecting and reverencing the dignity of the human person.

In the year 2018, the moral challenge of immigration is mounting for the United States. On too many occasions our government has taken a posture and established policy which is in principle and in practice hostile to children and families who are fleeing violence, gangs, and poverty. The policies have included limiting the number of refugees and immigrants we are willing to welcome in our country, ending Temporary Protective Status for families who are here, and refusing to restore DACA protection for those who have been among us for all or most of their lives. In the face of today’s global immigration crisis these choices fail to communicate a willingness to address the reality of widespread human suffering, and in many cases imminent danger, with compassion and care.

The cumulative effect of these policy decisions has now reached a critical moral juncture: by the order of the U. S. government, individuals with children and families with children who are seeking asylum at the southern border of the United States now have their children separated from their parents. The intent of this policy is clear: to discourage those seeking asylum by severing the most sacred human bond of parent and child. Children are now being used as a deterrent against immigrants who are appealing to us for asylum in order to protect themselves and their families. As disturbing as this fact is, the narrative of this development makes clear the misguided moral logic of the policy.

These individuals and families are fleeing documented violence, chaos and murder in the neighborhoods of Central America. The United States is now openly before the world using children as pawns to enforce a hostile immigration policy. This strategy is morally unacceptable and denies the clear danger weighing upon those seeking our assistance.

As a Catholic bishop, I support political and legal authority. I have always taught respect for the civil law and will continue to do so. But, I cannot be silent when our country’s immigration policy destroys families, traumatizes parents, and terrorizes children. The harmful and unjust policy of separating children from their parents must be ended.”