'The tip of an iceberg': Pope Francis speaks out against greed as refugee crisis peaks

Encourages people to look at the cause, not just the problem

During an interview with Portuguese Catholic radio station Radio Renascenca, Pope Francis said the refugee crisis "is the tip of an iceberg."

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (Catholic Online) - Pope Francis continued, saying, "These poor people are fleeing war, hunger, but that is the tip of the iceberg. Because underneath that is the cause; and the cause is a bad and unjust socioeconomic system, in everything, in the world..."

As Radio Renascenca listened raptly, Pope Francis spoke of socioeconomic society's relation to politics. He believes people are no longer the center, "god money" has taken the place of humanity. "There are statistics, I don't remember precisely, (I might have this wrong), but that 17 percent of the world's population has 80 percent of the wealth."

As an example of greed taking the place humanity once stood, Pope Francis said, "Why do the slums appear in the big cities? [It is t]he same. These are people who came from the countryside, because it has been deforested, because of monoculture. They don't have work, so they go to the big cities.

"In Africa, the same phenomenon. So, these emigrants who are coming to Europe -it's the same thing- looking for somewhere. And, of course, for Europe at the moment, this is a surprise because we can barely believe these things are happening, right? But they are."

Radio Renascenca reminded its listeners that Pope Francis went to Strasbourg and shared the importance of working on the causes, not only the effects. "It seems nobody listened to you then and, now, the effects are clear to see" they said. 

When the pontiff told them, "We have to go to the causes," they replied, "But probably nobody listened to you."

Unperturbed, the Pope threw examples of areas that need attention. Where hunger is, work must be created. Where war is caused, "search for peace, work for peace ... Everyone interprets their own culture. And, sometimes, the ideological interpretation, or that of ideas, is easier than to get [than get] things done, which is reality.

Further away from Europe there is another phenomenon which hurt me deeply: the Rohingya [a Muslim ethnic group found to be one of the most persecuted in the world], who are expelled from their country, get into boats and leave. They reach a port or a beach and they are fed and given water and then sent out to sea again, and not taken in. There is a lack of capacity for welcoming humanity."

The interview continued, with Radio Renascenca respectfully mentioning different crises and with the pontiff answering honestly and passionately. There was much talk of refugees, taking in families, bringing humanity back to peoples' hearts and pushing greed aside.

Pope Francis then confirmed the Vatican would be accepting two families. "I was told yesterday that the families have already been identified, and the two Vatican parishes have undertaken to go and search for them."

When asked how long the families would be allowed to stay, the pontiff replied, "As long as the Lord wants."

Following several questions concerning the "individualist era we live in," several personal questions were asked, such as, "what motivates you?" and "What do you imagine eternity is like?"

In answer to the latter, Pope Francis replied, "When I was younger I imagined it would be very dull.
Now, I think it is a Mystery of encounter. It is almost unimaginable, but it must be very beautiful and wonderful to meet with God."

The full interview has been transcribed in English and is available here.

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