“Francis did not wage a war of words aimed at imposing doctrines; he simply spread the love of God”
This is how Pope Francis speaks of his namesake in the opening paragraphs of Fratelli Tutti (Brothers and Sisters all together), his latest encyclical signed in Assisi and released on the Feast of Saint Francis.
Sadly, as many of the ‘people of good will’ to whom the Pope has addressed his latest teaching were starting to read it, Home Secretary Priti Patel was setting out plans on migration that seemed to go against all Fratelli Tutti suggests.
In the previous week, leaked documents had detailed some possible solutions to what the Westminster government sees as the refugee “problem”. Wave machines in the Channel to “swamp the boats” and the Australian model of “offshoring” were apparently on the agenda. Despite Australia’s treatment of refugees on islands in Papa New Guinea having been condemned by doctors, human rights experts, the United Nations and Parliamentary enquiries, the Home Secretary had in mind for those seeking sanctuary a volcano in the South Atlantic some 4,000 miles away from the UK.
At the Conservative Party Conference, Ms Patel made claims about the illegality of seeking asylum and in a speech I felt lacked compassion, she diminished the hopes of those fleeing persecution. She dismissively compared their struggle to find a country where they would have the best chance to find safety and rebuild their lives to “shopping around”.
In his encyclical, Pope Francis refers to “people of good will”. The Home Secretary called such people “do gooders” and lumped them together with human traffickers, “leftie lawyers” and the Labour Party, all “defending the indefensible”, something she said “[she] would never do” - the “indefensible” being to aid those seeking asylum.
Pope Francis famously began his pontificate by visiting Lampedusa to pray for those crossing the Mediterranean. The fourth chapter in Fratelli Tutti is titled A Heart Open to the Whole World and Pope Francis speaks of the limits of borders, and the gifts we all gain from sharing of ourselves and learning from other cultures. I was saddened to think that on the same day that Pope Francis launched his document seeking fraternity, the UK Home Secretary made a speech in direct opposition to all that document says.
I can only pray that “do-gooders” (and “leftie lawyers”) continue to lend a sympathetic ear to those Pope Francis describes as “fleeing from war, violence, political or religious persecution, from natural disasters including those caused by climate change, and from extreme poverty”, adding “Migrants ‘remind us of a basic aspect of our faith, that we are ‘strangers and exiles on the earth’ (Heb 11:13)”.
That description comes from his document Christus Vivit, in which he wrote, “I especially urge young people not to play into the hands of those who would set them against other young people, newly arrived in their countries, and who would encourage them to view the latter as a threat, and not possessed of the same inalienable dignity as every other human being.”
I’m happy to be lumped in with the “do-gooders” and “leftie lawyers, Ms Patel.
Join Justice & Peace Scotland’s Conversation on Migration to hear first hand experiences from the UK borders (Tue, 27 October 2020,19:45 – 21:00 GMT). Book through this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/conversation-on-migration-tickets-122206736639