THE POPE SPEAKS WITH ANGER AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP FOR HIS BAN AGAINST TERRORISTS THE QUESTION IS—WHERE WAS THE POPE WHEN THE CHRISTIANS WERE BEING SLAUGHTERED IN SYRIA?

THE POPE SPEAKS WITH ANGER AGAINST PRESIDENT

TRUMP FOR HIS BAN AGAINST TERRORISTS

THE QUESTION IS—WHERE WAS THE POPE WHEN

THE CHRISTIANS WERE BEING SLAUGHTERED IN SYRIA?

            At a recent ecumenical meeting of Roman Catholics and Lutherans in Germany, Pope Francis spoke with anger against the recent order of President Trump banning immigrants from seven Muslim majority countries.  The Pope said that he did not like the contradictory statement made by those who desire to protect Christianity in the West and are against immigrants of other religions. This criticism is directed at the President of the USA.

            Pope Francis said, “This is not something that I read in a book but I see it printed in the newspapers and I see it on television every day.  Responding to questions of young Germans this morning, the Pope said:  “Whether it is sickness or something sinful, Jesus condemns hypocrisy the most.  And that is exactly what happens when someone claims to be a Christian but does not live according to the teachings of Christ.”  He said: “One cannot be a Christian without living the Christian life.”

            “One cannot be a Christian without listening to the Beatitudes.  One cannot be a Christian without doing that which Jesus teaches us in the Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter 25.  In this chapter there is a directive of Jesus for us to help the poor with compassion.  This means feeding the hungry, clothing them, and welcoming the stranger.”

            He continued by saying: “It is hypocrisy for someone to call himself a Christian while at the same time banning immigrants who are seeking help.  It is hypocrisy to ban people who are hungry, thirsty and denying someone who is in need of our help.  If I say I am a Christian and do not do these things, then I am a hypocrite.”

            The Pope was asked what he thinks about the reforms in the Church.  His response was that the Christian community is called to constantly develop itself and become more mature.  He said this indicates that the Church has always reformed itself in movements that were either small or large.  Some of these movements were healthy for the Church and some were ill advised because of our human sinfulness.  The Pope went on to say to the pilgrims present:  “The greatest reformation of the Church was brought about by the Saints, the men and women who follow and listen to the Word of God.”  The majority of the pilgrims present came from the area of Germany where Luther was born, in Saxony.

            In his official talk, Pope Francis said that Christians must glorify God, because during the last fifty years “both Catholics and Lutherans have removed themselves from the Church because of conflicts in society.  We have travelled together a good portion of this journey.  The world needs Christians to offer people the mercy of God to the poorest, to the sick and to those who have abandoned their countries seeking a better future for themselves and for their families.”

            The reporter of this article makes the following commentary on what the Pope said. But in Syria, beginning in 2011, Christians were being killed, tortured, raped and terrorized.  Where was the Pope as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church?   Orthodox Metropolitans have disappeared, Churches were burned, and Monasteries were vandalized by the jihadists.  Where was the Pope when this was happening?  Now that President Trump signed an edict banning citizens from entering the USA from certain Muslim majority countries to protect America from terrorists, is it now that the Vatican remembers that there are Christians? 

            A commentary to this report about what the Pope said in Germany from someone in Greece wrote the following: “The president of the Muslim Union of Greece says: We are not here to find work, we are here to claim your country for ourselves.”  It is to your advantage Francis to have compassion for the Muslim migrants, who believe that Jesus is simply a prophet, who do not believe in the Holy Trinity and the Crucifixion of Jesus.  You want the Orthodox Church of Greece to be destroyed so that you can remain top dog.”

Translated from the Greek from the Greek web site Pentapostagma by:

+Fr. Costas J. Simones, February 1, 2017, Waterford, CT, USA, 860-460-9089,