During wars, houses of worship have become temporary
hospitals meeting very practical needs. Caring for the suffering is
particularly close to the message and example that Jesus provided. In response
to Pope Francis’s call for each parish in Europe to take in at least one
refugee family amid the tremendous influx of mostly Syrian refugees in 2015,
the pope himself arranged to take in a family. Leading by example is certainly
fitting for a follower of Jesus. I submit that the pope could have gone even
further to drive home the message of what it means to be a Christian.
The complete essay is at “Pope
Francis Puts Up Syrian Refugee Family.”
Pope Francis washing the feet of men and women in a juvenile detention center on Holy Thursday in 2013. That he washed women's feet flustered some people in the Vatican who missed the main point of the ritual.
