Pope Francis' act of humanity reminds us that the refugee crisis goes on
The dozen refugees taken to the Vatican will stand as an example to leaders and governments to do the right thing
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Your support makes all the difference.Scholars, preists and theologians have spent centuries, if not milennia, arguing about what Popes are "for". In this time of mass migration, of millions of people fleeing murder and persecution, Pope Francis has supplied at least part of the answer.
Answering Josef Stalin's always unwise question about how many divisions the Pope has (John Paul II had none but did his bit to destory communism), we see that the papacy has as much power as ever to command the attention of the world and set an example of humanity and compassion. If a Pope cannot do at least that, then he has little temporal value.
The symbolism of what the pontiff has done cannot be overstated. Most refugees fleeing the Middle East for Europe are Muslims and are being rescued by a Christian leader who sees in them only fellow human beings. The dozen refugees taken to the Vatican – quite a potent number in itself – will stand as an example to other leaders and governments, especially in Europe, to do the right thing.
Since the story of the discovery of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi's body on Turkish beach, shared by The Independent and others, did so much to move public opinion last autumn, much of that opinion has slipped back towards incomprehension, even hostility. Pope Francis has reminded us that the crisis has not gone away.
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