Page 41 - 082217

Groton Daily Independent
Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 053 ~ 41 of 45
saying Jesus’ message of love is rooted in welcoming the “rejected strangers of every age.”
He demanded a simpli ed process of granting humanitarian and temporary visas and rejected arbitrary and collective expulsions as “unsuitable.” He said the principle of ensuring each person’s dignity “obliges
us to always prioritize personal safety over national security.”
Francis has made refugees a priority of his ponti cate, making his rst trip outside Rome in 2013 to the
island of Lampedusa, ground zero in Europe’s migration crisis. He has repeatedly spoken out for migrants’ rights, demanded countries build “bridges not walls,” and personally brought a dozen Syrian refugees back to Rome with him when he visited a Greek refugee camp in 2016.
Ignoring critics who say his calls are unrealistic and naive, Francis insisted in the new message that border guards must be trained to protect migrants and that each new arrival, regardless of legal status, must be guaranteed access to basic services beyond health care.
That extends to guaranteeing access to consulates, the justice system and the ability to open a bank account and survive nancially, he said.
Unaccompanied minors, he said, require even greater protection, including guaranteeing them citizenship and access to schooling, as well as foster programs rather than detention centers.
He called for policies that support family reuni cation, employment opportunities and accelerated citizen- ship procedures to improve migrants’ abilities to integrate.
His call was immediately rejected by the leader of Italy’s anti-immigrant Northern League party, which has opposed government proposals to change Italy’s law to accelerate citizenship for children born in Italy to non-Italians.
“If you want to do it in the Vatican, go ahead,” Matteo Salvini wrote on Facebook. “But as a Catholic, I don’t think Italy can welcome and support the whole world.”
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Follow Nicole Win eld at www.twitter.com/nwin eld
Big Ben bell falls silent in London for repairs until 2021 By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — After more than 150 years as Britain’s most famous timekeeper, London’s Big Ben bell fell silent Monday for four years of repair work that will keep it quiet on all but a few special occasions.
The giant bell atop Parliament’s clock tower sent a dozen deep bongs into a gray sky at noon, marking the hour as it has done almost continuously since 1859. It is not due to resume its regular duties until 2021. Hundreds of parliamentary staff, journalists and lawmakers gathered in a courtyard under the Victorian clock tower to mark the moment, while hundreds more tourists and passers-by lined sidewalks and lled
nearby Parliament Square, cellphones held aloft.
The mood was light-hearted — it is, after all, just a bell — but total silence fell as the rst bong sounded.
The crowd burst into cheers and applause as the last faded away, and bells at nearby Westminster Abbey pealed a noisy farewell to their neighbor.
The bell is being stilled to allow workers to carry out much-needed maintenance to the clock and clock tower without being deafened. But a handful of lawmakers have criticized the lengthy silence, calling Big Ben an important symbol of British democracy. Prime Minister Theresa May said last week that “it can’t be right for Big Ben to be silent for four years.”
In response to the criticism, House of Commons of cials have said they will take another look at the repairs schedule once Parliament returns next month from its summer break.
Labour Party lawmaker Stephen Pound said it was sad to see the silencing of “the chimes of freedom.” “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone,” he said.
And Pound expressed skepticism that the repair work would be nished on schedule in 2021.
“Dream on,” he said. “Have you known any government project ever come in on time and on budget?” Big Ben has been silenced by malfunction and for repairs before, most recently in 2007, but this stretch