Pope Francis
warned leaders of the world's top 20 economies meeting in Hamburg against
forming dangerous and distorting alliances that could harm the poor and
migrants, in an article in Italian daily la Repubblica on Saturday.
"The
G20 worries me, it hits migrants in countries in half of the world and it hits
them even more as time goes by," the Pope was quoted as saying in a
conversation with the paper's founder Eugenio Scalfari.
Francis, the
first non-European pope in 1,300 years, said he was afraid of "very
dangerous alliances among (foreign) powers that have a distorted vision of the
world: America and Russia, China and North Korea, (Vladimir) Putin and (Bashar
al-)Assad in the war in Syria."
He said the
greatest danger concerned immigration, with "the poor, the weak, the
excluded and the marginalised" juxtaposed with "those who... fear the
invasion of migrants".
European
Union states are at odds over how to cope with a huge influx of migrants, many
fleeing war and poverty in countries Syria, Afghanistan and other countries.
On top of
resolving the differences over trade and climate change Angela Merkel,
chancellor of G20 host nation Germany, is expected to lead discussions on this
issue.
Pope Francis
was also quoted as saying Europe should adopt a federal structure as soon as
possible or "it won't count for anything in the world"
In May the
79-year old Argentine urged Europe not to see migrants as criminals.
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