Church condemns 'inhuman' Italian interior minister for 'letting migrants die' in shipwreck

 ROME -- Senior Italian Catholic Church officials condemned 'Post-Fascist' Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi Wednesday after he said that the deaths of dozens of child migrants in a shipwreck on Sunday were caused by irresponsible parents and strongly denied persistent reports that Coast Guard officials had deliberately left at least 60 shipwrecked Afghans and Syrians to die just 150 M from the coast rather than mount a rescue operation.  

 Piantedosi set off a furore when he said "those fleeing a war must not rely on unscrupulous smugglers", further urging the European Union to strengthen its immigration policy. His words were however not well received by many high-ranking Clergy members who condemned his speech calling it deeply unconstitutional and unempathetic, claiming his words did not only clash with the values of the Church but also the values of the Italian State.

 The Archbishop of Palermo, Monsignor Corrado Lorefice said he is reluctant to remain silent, and referenced the words of Pope Francis who had previously denounced the “globalization of indifference”, which refers to the Western indifference to tragedy when it concerns immigrants. 

 Lorefice commented on the speech saying that: “There is no room today for indifference: it is time for all of us to clearly shun any narrative aimed at blaming the weakest link in society. The responsibility lies with us: what happened in Cutro was not an accident, but the natural consequence of the Italian and European policies of recent years, the natural consequence of the way in which we citizens, we Christians, despite the continuous appeal of Pope Francis , we have not raised our voice, we have not done what was necessary to do by turning away or remaining lukewarm and fearful.(...) the symbolic culmination of all this was the declaration made by Minister Piantedosi, a man of the institutions who took his oath on the Italian Constitution - the same Constitution that before anything else recognizes and guarantees those inviolable human rights -, who has turned the blame on the victims. As I have already found myself saying, during the prayer for peace on November 4, 2022, we all risk falling ill with a particular form of Alzheimer's, an Alzheimer's that makes us forget the faces of children, the beauty of women, the vigor of men, the wise tenderness of the elderly. He makes you forget the fragrance of a shared table.”

 The archbishop of Palermo continued by calling out not just the minister but also the European Union, and wider Western society when he said: “would have asked us, if they had managed to land - the dismayed, terrified eyes of the survivors ask us - on what do we Europeans, we Westerners, base the promise we made today we wrote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They would have asked us - and now it's up to us, as citizens, as Christians, to ask us and to ask the Italian and European governments on behalf of each of them - if we understood that we made that promise above all to those who still today flee from the places in which these rights are unknown, violated, and if we have realized that by letting them die we have violated them ourselves, first. It is not only in the face of what happened in Calabria that we feel compelled to make this statement, but also and above all in the face of the denial of responsibilities, the seriousness of their avoidance, the lack of political and human awareness of the part of national and international institutions committed only to making agreements with countries such as Libya for detain and push migrants into real concentration camps.” 

 According to the prelate, Christians and non-Christians alike, bear the responsibility to take care of others, especially those different from ourselves he ended his speech urging the West to focus on policy with an emphasis on integration when he said: “let us act on the right to asylum, let us work on integration. Let's make this land of ours together a garden full of life, in which to celebrate and experience the conviviality of differences.”

 Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, considered by many observers a leading candidate to be the next pope, said that the Mediterranean sea which was once a symbol of strength and energy has slowly been transformed into a cemetery over the last 20 years. Zuppi also urged for a structural and shared response between nations and institutions regarding immigration, “So that no one is left alone and that Europe lives up to the traditions of defense of the person and of welcome”.

 Don Rosario Morrone, a Parish Priest, who was among the first to rush to the scene of the tragedy has also spoken out calling current policy and the lack of a response to the shipwreck “inhuman”, saying that “welcome is in our blood. Especially in Calabria. I'm 55, and Meloni is 46. I'd like to talk to you about humanity. Salvini is 49 and I would like to talk to him about which Gospel he reads and which rosary he recites, because mine are different.” Foul-mouthed League leader Matteo Salvini, part of the 'post-fascist' government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, frequently waves a rosary during campaign rallies as he spouts hatred of migrants.

 His message was also backed by The president of the Episcopal Commission for migration and of the Migrantes Foundation, as well as the archbishop of Ferrara-Comacchio, Monsignor Gian Carlo Perego.

  jp-sz

 © COPYRIGHT ITALIAN INSIDER
UNAUTHORISED REPRODUCTION FORBIDDEN