STRASBOURG, France — Pope Francis demanded Tuesday that Europe craft a unified and fair immigration policy, saying the tens of thousands of refugees coming ashore each year need acceptance and assistance, not self-interested policies that risk lives and fuel social conflict.
Francis made the comments to the European Parliament during a brief visit meant to highlight his vision for Europe a quarter-century after St. John Paul II traveled to Strasbourg to address a continent still divided by the Iron Curtain.
“A Europe which is no longer open to the transcendent dimension of life is a Europe which risks slowly losing its own soul,” he said.
The Argentine Jesuit frequently has spoken out about the plight of migrants seeking a better life in Europe. The most sustained applause came when he spoke about “barbaric violence” against Christians in much of the world amid “the shameful and complicit silence of many.”
