Pope decries indifference to refugees

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis in his Palm Sunday homily decries what he calls indifference to the refugees flooding into Europe, making a comparison to authorities who washed their hands of Jesus’ fate ahead of his crucifixion.

Francis abandons his homily text to lament Europe’s handling of the influx of migrants and asylum-seekers fleeing war, persecution or poverty from Syria, Iraq, Africa and elsewhere.

Jesus was “denied every justice,” the pope says. “Jesus also suffered on his own skin indifference, because no one wanted to take on the responsibility for his destiny.”

“And I am thinking of so many people, so many on the margins, so many refugees” for whom “many don’t want to assume responsibility for their destiny,” Francis says in a clear reference to Europe’s migration debate.

— AP