Pope Francis said during a speech to a French Christian group this week that Europe is currently experiencing an “Arab invasion,” and he encouraged people to welcome the “exchange among cultures.”
“Today we can talk about an Arab invasion. It is a social fact,” the pontiff reportedly told La Vie.
“If Europe wants to rejuvenate, it is necessary for it to find anew its cultural roots,” he was quoted as saying, according to the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. “Of all Western countries, the European roots are the strongest and deepest. By the way of colonization, these roots even reached the New World. But, by forgetting its history, Europe weakens itself. It is then that it risks becoming an empty place.
“How many invasions Europe has known throughout its history. It has always known how to overcome itself, moving forward to find itself as if made greater by the exchange between cultures,” the pope said, adding that Europe is the “only continent that can bring about a certain unity to the world.”
Europe has seen a major influx of refugees from Syria and Iraq in the past year. The number of Syrians seeking asylum doubled to 362,800 in 2015 and the number of Iraqis jumped to 121,500, the European Commission said Friday, Bloomberg reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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