Pope Francis on Sunday October 9th made an impassioned defense of migrants, calling their exclusion \u201cscandalous, disgusting and sinful,\u201d putting him on a collision course with Italy\u2019s upcoming right-wing government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe exclusion of migrants is scandalous. Indeed, the exclusion of migrants is criminal. It makes them die in front of us, \u201d he said, media reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd so today the Mediterranean is the world\u2019s largest cemetery,\u201d he said, referring to thousands who have drowned trying to reach Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Giorgia Meloni is expected to become prime minister later this month at the head of a right-wing coalition that has vowed to crack down on immigration and tighten Italy\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She has promised accelerated repatriations and tighter asylum rules. Meloni has also called for a naval blockade of North Africa to prevent migrants from sailing and for renewed curbs on charity rescue ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Francis, who did not mention Italy, said some migrants sent back are put in \u201cconcentration camps where they are exploited and treated as slaves.\u201d In the past he has said this has happened in Libya.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pope Francis on Sunday October 9th made an impassioned defense of migrants, calling their exclusion \u201cscandalous, disgusting and sinful,\u201d putting him on a collision course with Italy\u2019s upcoming right-wing government. \u201cThe exclusion of migrants is scandalous. Indeed, the exclusion of migrants is criminal. It makes them die in front of us, \u201d he said, media …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":86494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[434,143,259,691],"class_list":["post-86493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","tag-immigrants","tag-italy","tag-pope-francis","tag-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\n