Currents News Staff
Pope Francis took on provocative topics about Muslims and other religions this morning during his audience with pilgrims, his first since his mission to Morocco last weekend.
The Holy Father said having many religions in the world is the will of God. And he explained why he visits Muslims and not just Catholics.
“However, some may wonder why the pope is visiting Muslims and not just Catholics. What God wants is for there to be fraternity among us. This is why, in a special way, I made this trip to be with our Muslim brothers and sisters, children of Abraham, like us,” he said.
Francis recalled that Catholics are not the only believers in the world, and that the variety of faiths should not divide us.
“Why does God allow there to be many religions? God wanted to allow it. Scholastic theologians say: God’s permissive will. He wanted to allow this reality. There are many religions that are born from culture, but they always look to Heaven, they look to God. We should not be afraid of difference, God has allowed it. However, we should be afraid if we do not work together with our brothers and sisters because we live together,” he added.
The Holy Father said that during his time in Morocco, he wanted to talk about the issue of migration, as Morocco is the last stage for many migrants who are trying to reach Europe.
This is why he asked that the dignity of migrants not be damaged, because being a migrant is not an adjective: migrants are people.
“I don’t like to say ‘migrants.’ I like more to say ‘migrant person.’ Do you know why? This is because ‘migrant’ is an adjective. On the other hand, ‘person’ is a noun. We have fallen into the culture of adjectives. We use many adjectives and often forget the nouns, that is, the substance. The adjective is together with a substantive. This is ‘person.’ This is to say not ‘migrant’ but a ‘migrant person.’ This shows respect,” he said.