Jorge Mario Bergoglio, born on December 17th, 1936 progressed through various responsibilities of his church to become Pope on March 13, 2013. The honor of being elected to this exalted responsibility of shepherd for 1.2 billion Roman Catholics worldwide inspired Bishop Bergoglio to take the name of Francis (of Assisi), the venerable Catholic friar and preacher who was canonized on July 16, 1228 and was later designated Patron Saint of Italy. St. Francis founded the Order of Friars Minor and the Women’s Order of Saint Clare and eventually became involved with patronage of animals and natural environment.
The Pope and our President have similar stances regarding poverty and provisions for safe havens for expatriates and evacuees. These two leaders probably arrived at their philosophies of creating refuges from different life experiences. The Pope was born, raised and elevated to a high position in Argentina where poverty is everywhere and opportunities for employment and self reliance are limited.
Our President arrived at his attitude on poverty and welfare by an ideology derived from books and association with socialist educators and friends. Following tradition the Pope adopted a name associated with his high office, while our President kept his name. If his position were to adopt a moniker defining his position of Chief Executive of a nation of 320 million people, it could be something like Talkalot Dolittle.
Argentina, South America sustains poverty levels of 30% of its population of about 43 million citizens. Annual per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is $18,600, slightly better than that of Russia and about 35% of per capita GDP in the US. Substandard housing affects from 15% to 20% of households in the country; income poverty is widespread.
This is the backdrop of Pope Francis’ upbringing forming his outlook on poverty and indigence. It is possible that the Pope’s faith is so deep that he disregards national boundaries and believes men and women everywhere should be able to migrate to anywhere in the world that offers better conditions of peace, employment and pleasant surroundings for their family.
While this outlook, if accurate, is understandable and commendable, consideration must be extended to the concept of sovereignty. The reality is that there are terrorists who don’t recognize boundaries and in fact don’t even recognize the sanctity of life (their own or others). The concepts of sanctity and sovereignty are closely linked and revered in our humble young land of freedom and opportunity. We even preserve the dichotomy of saluting the flag by patriots and burning the flag by dissidents.
In recent commentaries and conflicting remarks, the subject of building walls versus bridges has entered public discourse. Hadrian’s Wall was begun in the year 122 A.D.; vestiges of the wall remain along the 73 miles across the English landscape. The Great Wall of China, under construction for 2,000 years, is 31,000 miles long and is visible from space. Crossing bridges is often a sign of joining together for friendship but the crossing of the Remagen Bridge over the Rhine by US soldiers on March 8, 1945 was a deadly confrontation between liberating Allied forces and Hitler’s evil intentions of conquest and extinction of non-Aryans.
This brings us to the well-intentioned but perhaps politically-inspired Mass in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico overlooking the Rio Grande River and the city of El Paso, Texas. Reports indicate that about 200,000 worshippers and spectators attended the service during which the Pope stated that “….it is worse to leave the future in the hands of corruption, brutality and the lack of equality.” While the words of wisdom of the Pope are worthy, we must distinguish corruption of government from the lawlessness of drug dealers and migrant smugglers, the brutality of terrorists and the lack of equality of opportunity and poverty by choice.
Pope Francis is truly an agent of God’s will and work but nations must also be aware of those who would destroy rather than restore, who prefer death over dialogue and practice condemnation over compromise and conciliation. Just as the Pope in behalf of the Roman Catholic Church protects the sovereignty of The Vatican, other nations must likewise preserve their sovereignty to avoid the hazards of today’s perilous world.
Dick Baynton