At long last, CBS aired its special featuring anchor Norah O’Donnell’s interview of Pope Francis which, as predicted, ran through the entire leftwing media policy pupu platter. A substantial portion of this interview was devoted, predictably, to the propagation of leftwing talking points on migration and climate change.
Watch as O’Donnell leads Francis into advocating for an open border (click "expand" for transcript):
NORAH O’DONNELL: In St. Peter's Square sits this monument to migrants. On top of a boat, a young boy fleeing the Irish famine. A Jewish man escaping Nazi Germany. A woman departing the Syrian Civil War. Unveiled by the Pope in 2019, calling on the faithful to "welcome, protect, promote and integrate."
This is a big story in the United States, because there have been so many migrants this year. I've been to the border and many times it is mothers with children who are fleeing violence. And they walk thousands of miles with their families for a better life. And yet, there is a discussion about closing the border, limiting migration.
POPE FRANCIS (VIA INTERPRETER): The solution is migration, to open the doors to migration. For an immigration policy to be good, it must have four things. For the migrant to be received, assisted, promoted, and integrated. This is what is most important, to integrate them into the new life.
O’DONNELL: I grew up in the state of Texas, which is right on the border with Mexico. The state of Texas is attempting to shut down a Catholic charity on the border with Mexico that offers undocumented migrants humanitarian assistance. What do you think of that?
POPE FRANCIS: That is madness. Sheer madness. Over there in Texas, there is a great bishop, Bishop Seitz. He’s right there at the border. That man does the impossible to help the migrants, right?
O’DONNELL: We met Bishop Mark Seitz at Annunciation House, a Catholic charity in El Paso Texas, where they are challenging the state's attempt to shut them down for allegedly shielding undocumented migrants from law enforcement.
BISHOP MARK SEITZ: This type of accusation puts fear into the hearts of anyone who generously gives of their time because of the Christian concern for people who are truly the poorest of the poor among us, people who have no place to go, nothing to eat, no clothes.
The media generally tend to treat faith like a combo menu, picking and choosing the parts they elect to propagate while denigrating those who believe those aspects thereof that the media don’t like. As Exhibit A, I give you the still-ongoing Harrison Butker kerfuffle.
The media had no choice but to cover Butker’s comments because they quickly went viral, as opposed to simply ignoring Francis when he says similar things on family, life, and marriage.
Inasmuch as Francis’ stance on migration (open borders) is aligned with the Regime, Francis gets maximum exposure. This is why the interview, which encompassed such matters as…
- Gaza/Ukraine
- College campus protests
- Migration
- Climate Change
- Ordination of women
- Surrogacy/IVF
- Transgender/LGBTQ issues
- Blessing LGBTQ individuals versus same-sex couples
- Sex abuse scandal
- Francis’ health, intent to retire
…featured ZERO questions on abortion. O’Donnell broached the issue of Life by coming at it from the surrogacy and IVF angle, wherein Francis’ harshest denunciation was reserved for the for-profit surrogacy industry. Abortion never made it on the air. On this issue, Pope Francis is not convenient to the Regime.
Which leads us back to migration. Here again, O’Donnell frames the issue in a light most likely to tug on Francis’ heartstrings. Hence, the evocation of mothers and children arriving at the border as opposed to hordes of military-aged men from hostile countries.
There is also the verbal sleight of hand related to the Catholic charity currently being sued by the Texas AG. O’Donnell complains to Francis about the Texas AG trying to shut down the charity “that offers humanitarian assistance”. When introducing the bishop in charge of Annunciation House, she then clarifies that it’s “for allegedly shielding undocumented migrants from law enforcement”. But Annunciation House is accused of failing to comply with Texas law regarding access to facilities and production of documents, in addition to the charges of (at minimum) abetting human trafficking.
The interview trudges on before doing a hard segue from migration to climate change, that other issue where the media gleefully echo Francis (click "expand"):
CBS's Norah O'Donnell segues into Pope Francis' obligatory climate homily by linking climate to migration. We pollute, therefore we must open the border pic.twitter.com/pKjAoJYa90
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) May 21, 2024
O’DONNELL: One factor driving an increase in migration is global warming. How worried are you about climate change?
FRANCIS: Unfortunately, we have gotten to a point of no return. It's sad, but that's what it is. Global warming is a serious problem. Climate change at this moment is a road to death. A road to death, eh? And it is an artificial climate change, no? Something provoked, not the normal climate change, right?
O’DONNELL: You have placed blame on wealthy countries.
POPE FRANCIS: In great measure, yes, because they are the ones that have more of an economy and an energy based on fossil fuels that are creating this situation, right? They are the countries that can make the most difference, given their industry and all, aren't they? But it is very difficult to create an awareness of this. They hold a conference, everybody's in agreement, they all sign, and then bye-bye. But we have to be very clear. Global warming is alarming.
O’DONNELL: So alarmed, he put the imagery of the climate crisis on full display and is the first Pope to issue official Vatican documents warning in his words that the world in which we live may be, quote, "nearing the breaking point."
What do you say to the deniers of climate change?
POPE FRANCIS: There are foolish people, and even if you show them the statistics, still the fool will not believe. Why? Generally, it is either because they don't understand the situation or out of a vested interest. But climate change is real. The warming of the Earth has already increased by two degrees. That is a lot.
O’DONNELL: You've talked about what St. Francis called "Sister Mother Earth." That protecting our planet is the most pressing issue today?
POPE FRANCIS: Yes, because it is the future, it is life. We say, at the most, "Stepsister Earth," not "Sister." Protecting the planet. How many young people today will not get to see so many things? It is a lack of conscience to use a plastic bottle and then throw it to the sea. This makes the sea unhealthy. We have to be conscientious about repurifying nature.
Here, again, is an issue where Francis’ stances align with those of the Regime, unlike abortion and same-sex marriage (individual non-couple benedictions notwithstanding). More curious minds would have presented Francis with the idea of climate advocacy as a Malthusian enterprise, and asked him to square that with his pro-life positions and teachings.
But the Regime can’t have that. Nor can its Media. Which is how we end up with this interview.
