Vatican starting to look hypocritical on those 'national security concerns'
The Vatican has called an ISIS terrorist video from the Philippines threatening the life of the pope "worrying" and made vague statements about security being in ready to halt the potential attack.
Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See's No. 2 official, said he has seen the video of militants desecrating Christian statues and threatening the pope by saying they'll come to Rome, as they tear in half photos of him and his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.
The video was mostly filmed in the Philippines, where ISIS has been clashing with government forces for control of the city of Marawi, MailOnline reported.
Parolin said: "Obviously, one cannot help but worry, above all for the senseless hatred that it is." But he said the Vatican has not added more measures to its already bolstered security.
It's not their first threat against the Vatican. Terrorists launched another video with St. Peter's Square in their crosshairs in 2015, created in the wake of their murder of a group of Egyptian Christians on a beach the same year.
The Swiss Guards recently said it is "only a matter of time" before the terrorists do their worst to strike at the Vatican.
The threat comes at a peculiar time - in the wake of words from the pope urging Europe to take all comers in great refugee inflow, without regard for "national security concerns."
In the message, Francis demanded governments welcome, protect, promote and integrate migrants, saying Jesus’ message of love is rooted in welcoming the “rejected strangers of every age.”
He demanded a simplified process of granting humanitarian and temporary visas and rejected arbitrary and collective expulsions as “unsuitable.” He said the principle of ensuring each person’s dignity “obliges us to always prioritize personal safety over national security.”
Whose personal safety that might be was not specified. But it appeared the Holy Father placed a higher value on the right of potential terrorists to come to Europe to live the good life than the right of their intended victims to live without fear, whether Europe's victims of Afghani rape maurauders, or Europe's victims of the next terrorist spectacular.
It was a singularly irresponsible statement because what on earth did he think national security concerns were except for protection for the lives of the people these nations' leaders have a sacred duty to protect? The pope's remark about 'obliges us to always prioritize personal safety over national security concerns' makes absolutely no sense given that the personal safety of Europeans is exactly what is known as national security. Anything else is to prioritize terrorists' lives over those of the locals.
Now he's got some 'worrying' things himself with this absurd policy position. Yes, we understand he wants to ensure that Christian duties to strangers are followed, but this does not necessarily mean taking good with bad into a home country and hoping the bomb doesn't go off. If it did, there'd be no ISIS terrorist video to find "worrying."
There are many ways to help refugees besides extending immigration to them and witih ISIS already stating that it has infiltrated refugee streams, there is every reason to shut the door and keep them out until they can be sorted out. Refugee camps near their home country should do the job just fine.
Somehow, it's easy to throw ordinary people off the side and declare them expendible in the great quest to fill Europe's baby bust. But it all looks different when in the eyes of the Vatican when it's the Holy Father's life on the line. The Vatican should have known better, because it comes out looking hypocritical now.