By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Friday politicians who rage against homosexuals, gypsies and Jews remind him of Hitler. "It is not coincidental that at times there is a resurgence of symbols typical of Nazism," Francis said in an address to participants of an international conference on criminal law. "And I must confess to you that when I hear a speech (by) someone responsible for order or for a government, I think of speeches by Hitler in 1934, 1936," he said, departing from his prepared address.
"With the persecution of Jews, gypsies, and people with homosexual tendencies, today these actions are typical (and) represent 'par excellence' a culture of waste and hate. That is what was done in those days and today it is happening again."
During the 1933-45 Nazi regime in Germany, six million Jews were killed and homosexuals and gypsies were among those sent to extermination camps. Pope Francis did not name any politicians or countries as the targets of his criticism. Read more via Reuters
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO PARTICIPANTS AT THE WORLD CONGRESS
OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PENAL LAW
excerpt:
On some abuses of the power to sanction
To conclude this part, I would like to refer to some of the problems that have worsened in the years since our previous meeting.
1. Misuse of pre-trial detention. I was concerned about the arbitrary use of pre-trial detention. Unfortunately, the situation has worsened in several countries and regions, where the number of unconvicted prisoners already far exceeds 50% of the prison population. This phenomenon contributes to the deterioration of detention conditions and is the cause of the illicit use of police and military forces for these purposes[3]. Preventive detention, when imposed without exceptional circumstances or for an excessive period of time, violates the principle that every defendant must be treated as innocent until a final sentence establishes his guilt.
2. The involuntary incentive to violence. Reforms of the institution of legitimate defence have been implemented in several countries and this has been claimed to justify crimes committed by agents of the security forces as legitimate forms of the fulfilment of duty[4]. It is important for the legal community to defend traditional criteria to prevent punitive demagogy from degenerating into incentives to violence or a disproportionate use of force. They are inadmissible conduct in the rule of law and, in general, accompany racist prejudices and contempt for marginalized social groups.
3. The culture of rejection and hatred. The throwaway culture, combined with other psycho-social phenomena widespread in welfare societies, is showing a serious tendency to degenerate into a culture of hatred. There are unfortunately not isolated episodes, certainly in need of a complex analysis, in which the social hardships of both young people and adults find their way. It is no coincidence that sometimes emblems and actions typical of Nazism reappear. I confess to you that when I hear some speeches, some head of the order or of the government, Hitler’s speeches in 1934 or 1936. Today. They are actions typical [of Nazism] which, with its persecution of Jews, gypsies, people of homosexual orientation, is the quintessential negative model of the culture of rejection and hatred. This is what was done in that time and today these things are being reborn. It is necessary to be vigilant, both in the civil and ecclesial spheres, in order to avoid any possible compromise which is assumed to be involuntary – with these degenerations.
4. Lawfare. It periodically emerges that false accusations are made against political leaders, made jointly by the media, opponents and colonized judicial bodies[5]. In this way, with the instruments of lawfare, the ever necessary fight against corruption is exploited in order to combat unwelcome governments, reduce social rights[6] and promote a sense of anti-politics which benefits those who aspire to exercise authoritarian power.
And at the same time, it is curious that the use of tax havens, a device that serves to hide all sorts of crimes, is not perceived as a fact of corruption and organized crime[7]. Similarly, widespread phenomena of appropriation of public funds go unnoticed or are minimized as if they were mere conflicts of interest. I invite everyone to reflect on this.