Cardinal O’Malley voices support for accepting Syrian refugees
After dozens of elected officials — including Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker — said that the nation should not accept Syrian refugees due to security concerns, Cardinal Sean O’Malley on Thursday voiced his support for welcoming refugees and offering humanitarian aid, The Boston Globe reported.
“For many months now we have watched Syrian individuals and families – Muslim and Christian alike – be driven from their homes and homeland and set adrift in a chaotic world, unprepared to provide for their safety or honor their humanity,’’ O’Malley’s statement said. “The barbaric attacks in Paris, which demand a strong response and require policies that as best possible prevent recurrence, should not be used to efface the memory of Syrians and others from the Middle East and Africa who are desperately in need of shelter, support and safety.’’
O’Malley is just one religious leader in the area who opposed refugee bans. Baker also received a letter from the Massachusetts Council of Churches Wednesday asking him to rethink his former statement that barred refugees, the Globe reported.
“Refugees do not bring terror, they are feeling from it,’’ the eight bishops and ministers wrote. “We must make sure that we do not allow fear to overwhelm us, crowd our compassion, or fundamentally change our character.’’
While Baker had said “no as of right now’’ to refugees earlier this week, he supported the ideas O’Malley expressed.
“Governor Baker agrees with the cardinal’s poignant message that Massachusetts has a role in welcoming individuals into the Commonwealth and is working to ensure the public’s safety in the wake of the recent, terrible tragedies despite the limited role states play in the process,’’ a spokeswoman for Baker said in an email to the Globe Thursday.
Read the full Globe story here.
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