Pope Defends Likening of Refugee Centers to Concentration Camps
Pope Francis defended his statement comparing refugee centers in Europe to concentration camps which was met with shock in Germany and outrage among some Jewish organizations. However, the popesaid he stands by his choice of words despite the swirling controversy.
Pope Francis made the comparison during an afternoon prayer service on April 22 for new martyrs of the 20th and 21st centuries. "These refugee camps — so many are concentration camps, crowded with people," he remarked. The American Jewish Committee (AJC) criticized the comment the next day.
Pope Francis was asked by a reporter if it was a linguistic slip. He clarified there was no linguistic lapse considering that refugee centers are closed in and people cannot leave just like in concentration camps. "Simply the fact of being confined and to be able to do nothing is a camp," he said.
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AJC CEO David Harris acknowledged that while conditions might be difficult in some migrant centers, concentration camps were built by the Nazis for slave labor and the extermination of millions of people during World War II, and as such, there is no comparison to the magnitude of the tragedy.
There are those, however, who ran to Pope Francis' defense. The International Auschwitz Committee said his comments were legitimate. "I don't consider it outrageous," said Christoph Heubner, executive vice president of the committee which was founded by survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
A New York Times opinion article pointed out that the Holy Father didn't have any intention to minimize Nazi atrocities when he made the comment. Rather, he was urging the world to open its eyes to the needs of the suffering. While the pope's remarks on refugee camps are shocking, they are shocking for a purpose, and that is to challenge the world to take action, the piece went on.
