Pope denounces Christians who don’t want refugees as ‘hypocrites’

People who call themselves Christians but do not want refugees at their door are hypocrites, Pope Francis said yesterday, amid reports of new tragedies involving migrants crossing the Mediterranean.“It is hypocritical to call yourself a Christian and to chase away a refugee, or anyone who needs your help. Jesus taught us what it means to be a good Christian in the parable of the Good Samaritan,” Francis said in a meeting with German Lutheran pilgrims at the Vatican.The Pope, a vocal champion of migrant rights who was born in Argentina from an Italian immigrants, earlier issued a message ahead of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which the Catholic Church will observe on January 15.“Children are the first among those to pay the heavy toll of emigration, almost always caused by violence, poverty, environmental conditions, as well as the negative aspects of globalisation,” Francis said in the message.Renewing arguments that welcoming migrants is a Christian duty, the Pope cited a passage from the Biblical Book of Exodus stating: “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”He criticised attempts “to curb the entrance of migrants, which in turns fosters illegal networks” for people smuggling and trafficking, “instead of favouring the social integration of child migrants, or programmes for safe and assisted repatriation”.Francis said that governments should balance their right to control migration flows “with the duty to resolve and regularise the situation of child migrants”, saving them from abuse, exploitation and the “lowest levels of human degradation”.