Cardinal ashamed of Eastern Europe

Cardinal Christopher Schön­born of Vienna has said he is “deeply ashamed” of the stance towards refugees of most Eastern European countries in the European Union.

Speaking to the Slovakian weekly Tyzden on 14 December, he said he was deeply disappointed that the EU countries in the East were only taking in very small numbers of refugees and only taking Christians.

He was “really sad and deeply ashamed” that Slovakia had decided only to take in 150 Christian Syrians and that similar tendencies could be observed in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary, Schönborn told the newspaper. These newer EU members were “being blinded by a shameful propaganda”, which was a “scandal”, Schönborn said, adding that it was “ridiculous” to “invoke our Christian values” in defence of this policy.

Pope Francis had asked every parish in Europe to take in one refugee, he recalled. The Eastern European members’ refusal to respond was a “shock, really a shock”. Referring to the growing sympathy in Slovakia for Vladimir Putin’s Russia as a “haven for Christian values”, he said there was a simple remedy, “namely a glance at reality”.

Meanwhile, after the Bundestag this month approved the sending of 1,200 troops to counter Islamic State, bishops’ conference president Cardinal Reinhard Marx said military intervention was unlikely to work, as so many opposing political, religious and financial interests were involved.