Washington:

The war of words between US Border Czar Tom Homan and Pope Francis has escalated, with Homan firing back at the Vatican’s leader over his criticism of President Donald Trump’s deportation policies. In a televised interview, Homan accused Pope Francis of hypocrisy, pointing to the Vatican’s own robust security measures, including a wall around the Vatican.

“They have a wall around the Vatican,” Homan said. “If you illegally enter the Vatican, the crime is serious. You’ll be charged with a serious crime and jailed. So he can protect the Vatican where he lives. He can build a wall where he lives, but the American people are not allowed that.”

Homan also called on Pope Francis to focus on addressing issues within the Catholic Church, saying “The Pope ought to stick to the Catholic Church and fix that. That’s a mess.”

NEW: Border Czar Tom Homan responds to Catholic outcry over Trump’s deportation operation, calls out the Pope for living behind massive 30 foot walls.

Homan told the Pope to fix the Catholic church before he starts criticizing the United States.

“They have a wall around the… pic.twitter.com/YTRoZ7DIH5

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 25, 2025

Pope Francis has been a vocal advocate for migrant rights, criticising restrictive immigration policies. Nearly a decade after calling Trump “not Christian” for his plans to build a US-Mexico border wall, the pontiff reiterated his stance during an appearance on the Italian talk show Che Tempo Che Fa.

“If true, this will be a disgrace,” Francis said of Trump’s deportation pledges. “It makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill. This won’t do! This is not the way to solve things. That’s not how things are resolved.”

The Pope’s comments came as the Trump administration has intensified deportation operations, with immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) arresting 538 people on Thursday and 593 on Friday, some of whom were flown out of the country on military planes. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt touted the efforts as part of the administration’s “largest deportation operation in history,” aligning with Trump’s campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration.

The exchange between Homan and Pope Francis highlights the deep divisions over immigration policy in the United States. As the Trump administration continues to enforce stricter immigration rules, critics argue that the policies are inhumane and go against American values. Supporters, on the other hand, argue that the policies are necessary to maintain national security and enforce the rule of law.
 

In a world where information flows freely, it’s easy to forget that, for centuries, knowledge was much harder to come by. Imagine living in a time when the internet didn’t exist, books were scarce, libraries were few, and most people couldn’t even read.

This was the world of Isidore of Seville, a man dedicated to gathering and sharing knowledge to be passed down for generations.

Thanks to his work, he was named the patron saint of the internet in 1997 by Pope John Paul II, recognising his impact on knowledge and communication.

Importantly, understanding Isidore’s life and work also helps us navigate the murky online world of lies – and find information we can trust.

ISIDORE’S WORLD AND THE ‘DARK AGES’

Isidore was a bishop and scholar who lived in Seville in what is now Spain during a time we often call the “Dark Ages”, roughly 500–1000 AD. After the fall of the Roman Empire, much of Europe was in chaos – as if the lights had been turned off.

Political instability, war and disease disrupted learning and culture. Many people were illiterate, and many classical works from ancient Greece and Rome risked being lost forever.

In this world of limited access to learning, Isidore stood out. He wanted to make knowledge more accessible, especially to Christians.

He saw preserving and sharing information as essential to keeping civilisation alive and thriving. To do this, he wrote his most famous work, Etymologiae, which became a go-to book for centuries.

WHAT WAS ETYMOLOGIAE?

Think of Etymologiae as one of the first encyclopedias. An encyclopedia is a book that collects information on many topics, often arranged alphabetically, making it easy to find answers.

Isidore’s work covered everything from language, science and geography to theology, the study of God. His goal was to make ancient knowledge easier to find and understand. He wanted to save the best ideas of the past and bring them into his present time.

In Etymologiae, he drew from well-known classical authors such as Aristotle, Cicero and Pliny, alongside Christian writers such as Augustine and Jerome. This book became essential for medieval students and scholars because it saved so much knowledge from being lost.

Later, Isidore’s work was widely used in schools across Europe and helped many people learn about topics they might otherwise never know about. It laid a foundation for preserving ancient ideas through the Middle Ages and beyond.

THE POWER OF LANGUAGE IN ISIDORE’S WORK

For Isidore, words were powerful. He argued that understanding the origin, or etymology, of words gave people insight into the true meaning of things. This focus on language is why he called his book Etymologiae. He saw language as a bridge that connected people to knowledge.

But Isidore went beyond just defining words. He also explained concepts from nature, science and history, making sure people had a well-rounded understanding of the world.

In a time when superstitions and beliefs in supernatural forces often influenced people’s view of natural events, Isidore promoted a rational approach. He wanted people to know the facts about their world.

ISIDORE’S ROLE IN EDUCATION AND THE CHURCH

Isidore wasn’t just a writer.

As a senior leader in the Christian Church, he played an important role in both religion and education. He set up “cathedral schools” for training future priests. These schools would later inspire the first European universities, where students could study a wide range of subjects.

For Isidore education was essential for everyone, not just the church’s leaders.

By promoting the seven “liberal arts” – subjects such as grammar, logic, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and music – he helped create a model for what would eventually become medieval university education. His ideas about learning spread across Europe, inspiring others to value education as a path to both knowledge and faith.

‘THE PATRON SAINT OF THE INTERNET’

So, how did Isidore, who lived 1,400 years ago, become the patron saint of the internet? His Etymologiae was, in many ways, the internet of his time – a collection of facts and explanations from various sources.

Just as the internet today connects us to all kinds of information, Isidore’s work aimed to make learning easier for people of his era.

In naming him the patron saint of the internet, the Catholic Church recognised Isidore’s efforts to collect, organise, and share knowledge. Like the internet, Etymologiae allowed ideas to flow across generations, even when people had limited access to books or formal education.

ISIDORE’S LASTING LEGACY

Isidore’s influence didn’t end with his life. His ideas spread across Europe, especially during the Carolingian Renaissance of the eighth and ninth centuries – a time when scholars worked to revive learning and culture. Etymologiae became a popular text in monasteries and cathedral schools.

In later centuries, scholars relied on his work to understand classical literature, science and theology.

Today, Isidore’s dedication to knowledge serves as a reminder of the importance of preserving and sharing reliable information.

Just as Isidore saw his work as a way to preserve knowledge, we now live in an age of easy access to information. But not all of it is true.

He believed learning should guide us toward wise choices and serve a greater good.

(Author: Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Researcher, Historian, Australian Catholic University)

(Disclosure Statement: Darius von Guttner Sporzynski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment)

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Pope Francis reacts during a meeting with Belgium’s authorities and civil society in Brussels, Belgium on September 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Pope Francis said on Friday (September 27, 2024) that the Catholic Church must “seek forgiveness” over the “scourge” of child sexual abuse, during a visit to Belgium where the Church’s dark past looms large.

In a speech before political and civil society leaders that opened his three-day visit to the country, Pope Francis denounced the “tragic instances of child abuse” as a stain on the Church’s legacy.

“It is our shame and our humiliation,” Francis told the gathering at the Laeken Palace royal residency.

“The Church must be ashamed and must seek forgiveness,” he said.

The 87-year-old pontiff is due to meet with a group of clerical sexual assault victims in Brussels in the afternoon, as part of a three-day stay in the European nation tarred by decades of scandals and cover-ups.

The meeting with around 15 victims, taking place at 6:30 pm (1630 GMT) at the Vatican’s diplomatic mission, was being held with the “utmost discretion”, according to the Belgian church.

It was arranged after a hard-hitting documentary last year put Belgium’s abuse scandal back on the front pages, prompting many new victims to come forward.

In an open letter published by Le Soir newspaper this month, some demanded the pope address paedophilia and set up a process for financial reparations.

“Words alone are not enough. Concrete measures must also be taken,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in a preamble to the Pope’s speech.

The pontiff said the abuse scandal was “a scourge that the Church is addressing firmly and decisively by listening to and accompanying those who have been wounded, and by implementing a prevention programme throughout the world”.

Forced adoptions

Pope Francis has made combating sexual assault in the Church a main mission of his papacy, and insisted on a “zero tolerance” policy in the wake of wide-reaching abuse scandals around the world.

During his speech, Francis also said he was “saddened” to learn about a forced adoptions scandal in Belgium that saw institutions run by nuns give up the babies of thousands of underage girls and unmarried women.

“We see how the bitter fruit of wrongdoing and criminality was mixed in with what was unfortunately the prevailing view in all parts of society at that time,” he said.

Belgium’s HLN news site estimates that up to 30,000 children were taken from their mothers in Belgium between 1945 and the 1980s.

Bishops in Belgium apologised in 2023 and requested an independent investigation after fresh testimonies emerged from women and people claiming to have been “sold” by the Catholic Church to their adoptive family.

Also read: Long history of nuns abused by priests in India: an AP investigation 

Child sexual abuse and forced adoptions have “badly damaged trust” between the Church and society, De Croo said.

In a sign of the work yet to be done, the program of an open-air mass concluding Francis’s trip on Sunday had to be changed at the last minute after it emerged that the closing hymn was composed by a priest accused of sexual abuse.

The blunder prompted the head of the Belgian bishops’ conference, Archbishop Luc Terlinden, to admit that the Church needed to get better at keeping a tab on cases and perpetrators.

“This represents a great challenge for us, but we must think about it seriously with the help of lawyers and psychologists,” he told a local broadcaster. The composer, who died this month, reportedly settled a sexual abuse case in 2002.

On the wane

The Argentinian Pope arrived in Belgium on Thursday (September 26, 2024) evening after spending the day in neighbouring Luxembourg, where he made a plea for international diplomacy amid flaring conflicts across the globe.

He was welcomed by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, who hosted him on Friday morning, and he will head on to meet with academics at the Catholic university of Leuven in Dutch-speaking Flanders — whose 600th anniversary next year is the official reason for Francis’s visit.

On Saturday, during what is his 46th trip abroad, Francis will meet the clergy at the vast Basilica of the Sacred Heart before holding discussions with students at Louvain-la-Neuve in French-speaking Wallonia, notably on climate issues.

The last papal visit to Brussels was in 1995, when John Paul II attended the beatification of Saint Damien, who dedicated his life to lepers.

Nearly 65 percent of Belgium’s population is Christian, including 58 percent who are Catholic, according to figures from Louvain university.

But their numbers are on the wane, reflecting a decline across Europe.

During his weekly general audience, Francis said he hoped his visit could be “the opportunity for a new impetus of faith”.

Montreal:

The Catholic Church is to pay 104 million Canadian dollars ($76 million) to hundreds of victims of sexual abuse from eastern Canada, according to a statement released Friday.

In 2020 the Archdiocese of St. John was found liable for one of Canada’s largest child sex abuse scandals, at Mount Cashel Orphanage, a now-defunct boy’s orphanage in Newfoundland and Labrador province.

The court found sexual abuse was perpetrated by priests and other church officials at the orphanage starting in 1940 and continued over the course of several decades.

A total of 292 victims will receive payouts ranging from 55,000 to 850,000 Canadian dollars, according to the report seen by AFP.

Accounting firm Ernst & Young has been tapped as a third-party intermediary to determine the amount distributed to each victim.

Geoff Budden, one of the attorneys representing the victims, told AFP the amount was in line with “similar compensation from other courts.”

“People didn’t really grasp the scale of the problem and how widespread the abuse was,” he said.

The Archdiocese of St. John declared bankruptcy in 2021, though it has raised 40 million Canadian dollars through selling buildings that belonged to it.

However, Budden said he is optimistic that the victims will receive the full amount awarded by the court.

“There are still assets that need to be processed, including insurance products,” he said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

File picture of Pope Francis
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The alleged incident is said to have happened on May 20, when the Italian Bishops Conference opened a four-day assembly with a non-public meeting with the pontiff

Pope Francis used a derogatory term towards the LGBT community as he reiterated in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops that gay people should not be allowed to become priests, Italian media reported on Monday.

La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, Italy’s largest circulation dailies, both quoted the pope as saying seminaries, or priesthood colleges, are already too full of “frociaggine“, a vulgar Italian term roughly translating as “faggotness”.

The Vatican did not respond to a request for comment.

La Repubblica attributed its story to several unspecified sources, while Corriere said it was backed up by a few, unnamed bishops, who suggested the pope, as an Argentine, might have not realised that the Italian term he used was offensive.

Political gossip website Dagospia was the first to report on the alleged incident, said to have happened on May 20, when the Italian Bishops Conference opened a four-day assembly with a non-public meeting with the pontiff.

Pope Francis, who is 87, has so far been credited with leading the Roman Catholic Church into taking a more welcoming approach towards the LGBT community.

In 2013, at the start of his papacy, he famously said, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”, while last year he allowed priests to bless members of same-sex couples, triggering substantial conservative backlash.

Nevertheless, he delivered a similar message on gay seminarians – minus the reported swear word – when he met Italian bishops in 2018, telling them to carefully vet priesthood applicants and reject any suspected homosexuals.

In a 2005 document, released under Francis’s late predecessor Benedict XVI, the Vatican said the Church could admit into the priesthood those who had clearly overcome homosexual tendencies for at least three years.

The document said practicing homosexuals and those with “deep-seated” gay tendencies and those who “support the so-called gay culture” should be barred.

Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh and Pope Francis on September 2, 2023, in front of the Saaral Ordon Government Building in Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar.
| Photo Credit: AP

Pope Francis will show support for interfaith dialogue on September 3 during his final full day in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, a visit that has seen him seek to build bridges with China.

The morning address, which unites 10 leaders of major religions in Mongolia – a young democracy whose Constitution provides for religious freedom – comes as the 86-year-old pope seeks to tacitly send the message the nation’s neighbours, in particular China, that spirituality is healthy for societies and not a threat.

Also read | Pope Francis lands in Mongolia, home to tiny Catholic flock

During a gathering of Catholic missionaries Saturday at the city’s Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, the Pope said governments had “nothing to fear” from the Catholic Church.

“Governments and secular institutions have nothing to fear from the Church’s work of evangelisation, for she has no political agenda to advance…” said the pontiff, without specifically mentioning China.

There are only about 1,400 Catholics in Mongolia out of a population of 3.3 million people. Only 25 are priests, and only two of those are Mongolian.

Most Mongolians of faith are Buddhist or practice Shamanism.

By venturing to the isolated Central Asian country, the Argentine Jesuit has hoped not only to encourage the tiny Catholic community of missionaries and the faithful, but use his presence at China’s backdoor to try to improve the Vatican’s relations with Beijing.

Beijing’s Communist Party, which exercises strict control over all recognised religious institutions, is wary of the Catholic Church on its territory.

The Holy See renewed a deal last year with Beijing allowing both sides a say in appointing bishops in China.

Critics have called the move a dangerous Vatican concession in exchange for a presence in the country.

‘Pilgrim of friendship’

Mongolia feted the pontiff Saturday with a welcome ceremony that included an honour guard and phalanx of horsemen in metal armour on parade.

Calling himself a “pilgrim of friendship”, Francis extolled the country’s virtues, including its nomadic people “respectful of the delicate balances of the ecosystem”.

He said Mongolia’s Shamanist and Buddhist traditions of living in harmony with nature could help in the “urgent and no longer deferrable efforts to protect and preserve planet Earth”.

Religions, when not “corrupted” by sectarian deviations, help create sound societies, he said.

They “represent a safeguard against the insidious threat of corruption, which effectively represents a serious menace to the development of any human community”.

Mongolia has been marred by corruption and environmental degradation in recent years, with its capital suffering from some of the world’s worst air quality and an embezzlement scandal sparking street protests last year.

Vast swathes of the country’s territory are also at risk of desertification due to climate change, overgrazing and mining.

Global figure

In the vast Sukhbaatar Plaza, named for a Mongol revolutionary hero, many had hoped to catch a glimpse of the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.

Among them was Mongolian Enkhtur Dagvadorj, who said Francis “seems a great person. He is indeed a global figure”.

“Although Mongolians are Buddhists, it is lovely to receive a Pope from Rome in our country,” he said.

“His visit is very beneficial to our country in many aspects, from reputation to the economy.”

The Pope’s trip drew pilgrims from the wider region as well, including Chinese Catholics, some of whom waved the country’s red flag as they waited for a glimpse of the pontiff.

Later Sunday, the Pope will preside over mass inside a newly built ice hockey arena.

Pope Francis hailed religion’s power to resolve conflict and promote peace Sunday, on his final full day in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar for a visit that has seen him seek to build bridges with neighbouring China.

The morning address, which brought together leaders of major religions in Mongolia, took place in the intimate Hun Theatre, nestled in the low mountains surrounding the city and designed in the round shape of the traditional nomadic “ger” dwelling.

Christian leaders as well as representatives of Buddhism and Shamanism, Islam and Judaism, Hinduism, the Russian Orthodox Church, Mormonism, Baha’i and others attended.

Also read | Pope Francis lands in Mongolia, home to tiny Catholic flock

“Religious traditions, for all their distinctiveness and diversity, have impressive potential for the benefit of society as a whole,” the 86-year-old pontiff told them.

“If the leaders of nations were to choose the path of dialogue with others,” he said, it could make a “decisive contribution to ending the conflicts continuing to afflict so many of the world’s people”.

The pope’s visit to Mongolia — a young democracy whose Constitution provides for religious freedom — has seen him send a tacit message to the nation’s neighbours, in particular officially-atheist China, that spirituality is healthy for societies and not a threat.

And by venturing to the isolated Central Asian country, the Argentine Jesuit has hoped not only to encourage the tiny Catholic community of missionaries and the faithful, but use his presence at China’s backdoor to improve the Vatican’s relations with Beijing.

During a gathering of Catholic missionaries at the city’s Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral on Saturday, Pope Francis said governments had “nothing to fear” from the Catholic Church.

“Governments and secular institutions have nothing to fear from the Church’s work of evangelisation, for she has no political agenda to advance,” said the pontiff, without specifically mentioning China.

Beijing’s Communist Party, which exercises strict control over all recognised religious institutions, is wary of the Catholic Church on its territory.

The Holy See renewed a deal last year with Beijing allowing both sides a say in appointing bishops in China.

But critics have called the move a dangerous Vatican concession in exchange for a presence in the country.

‘Pilgrim of friendship’

Calling himself a “pilgrim of friendship”, Pope Francis has extolled Mongolia’s virtues during his visit, including its nomadic people “respectful of the delicate balances of the ecosystem”.

He said Mongolia’s Shamanist and Buddhist traditions of living in harmony with nature could help in the “urgent and no longer deferrable efforts to protect and preserve planet Earth”.

Religions, when not “corrupted” by sectarian deviations, help create sound societies, he said.

They “represent a safeguard against the insidious threat of corruption, which effectively represents a serious menace to the development of any human community”.

Mongolia has been marred by corruption and environmental degradation in recent years, with its capital suffering from some of the world’s worst air quality and an embezzlement scandal sparking street protests last year.

Vast swathes of the country are also at risk of desertification due to climate change, overgrazing and mining.

On Sunday, the pope retirated his call for greater protection of the environment.

“Concerned only with earthly interests, humanity ends up destroying the earth and mistaking progress for regression,” the pontiff told religious leaders.

This was “attested by so many injustices, conflicts, persecutions, environmental disasters and great disregard for human life”, he said.

There are about 1,400 Catholics in Mongolia out of a population of 3.3 million people. Only 25 are priests, and just two of those are Mongolian.

Most Mongolians of faith are Buddhist or practice Shamanism.

In the vast Sukhbaatar Plaza, named after a Mongol revolutionary hero, many had hoped to catch a glimpse of the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.

Pope Francis’ trip drew pilgrims from the wider region, including Chinese Catholics, some of whom waved the country’s red flag as they waited for the pontiff.

Some told AFP they were hopeful of a papal visit to China one day.

The pope will also preside over mass inside a newly built ice hockey arena on Sunday.