In a Tweet commemorating International Migrants’ Day Tuesday, Pope Francis compared migrants of today with Jesus Christ.
“Jesus knows well the pain of not being welcomed,” the pope said. “May our hearts not be closed as were the houses in Bethlehem.” Critics pointed out that Joseph and Mary were not immigrants in Bethlehem but were returning to Bethlehem to be counted and taxed as Roman subjects.
The pope has made immigration a central plank of his papacy, encouraging nations to be more inviting to migrants, legal or illegal, while insisting that a failure to welcome them stems from selfishness and “populist rhetoric.