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POPE FRANCIS HAS said the world was at war, but argued that religion was not the cause, as he arrived in Poland a day after jihadists murdered a Catholic priest in France.
In his first speech after touching down in the city of Krakow, the pontiff said the way to “overcome fear” was to welcome people fleeing conflict and hardship.
Opening doors to migrants demands “great wisdom and compassion” he said, chastising a rightwing government that has refused to share the burden during Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II.
“We must not be afraid to say the truth, the world is at war because it has lost peace,” the pontiff told journalists on the flight out from Rome.
When I speak of war I speak of wars over interests, money, resources, not religion. All religions want peace, it’s the others who want war.
The brutal killing of the elderly priest during mass in France on Tuesday, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group, has cast a shadow over Francis’s trip to headline World Youth Day, a gathering of young Catholics from across the globe.
“This holy priest who died in the moment of offering prayers for the church is one (victim). But how many Christians, innocents, children?” Francis said.
Polish stance softening?
“The word we hear a lot is insecurity, but the real word is war. The world has been in a fragmented war for some time. There was the one in 14, one in 39-45 and now this,” he said referring to World War I and II.
A string of terror attacks targeting civilians in Europe appears to have dampened turnout for the World Youth Day festival, a week-long faith extravaganza dubbed “the Catholic Woodstock”.
Flag-waving crowds of youngsters nonetheless turned out in force to cheer on the pope as he sped to the Wawel Royal Castle in his open-top popemobile, defying security fears.
Around 200,000 pilgrims attended the opening mass on Tuesday, according to Krakow police, while organisers had expected around half a million.
Refugees
The French priest’s murder has also complicated Francis’s aim to champion migrants, while emboldening Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and her right-wing government who have refused to take in refugees for security reasons.
But Polish President Andrzej Duda appeared to signal a softening of Warsaw’s stance following closed-door talks with Francis.
“If someone wants to come here, especially if they are a refugee, fleeing war to save their life, we will of course accept them,” he told reporters.
Poland is on high security alert, deploying over 40,000 personnel for the visit. Authorities also charged an Iraqi man on Monday with possessing trace amounts of explosive material.
“World Youth Day is a great celebration and we hope the attack in France will not ruin it,” said Marcin Przeciszewski, head of Catholic Information Agency KAI, as worshippers gathered Tuesday to pray for the fallen French priest.
“The best answer to violence is love, peace and prayer,” said French pilgrim Pierre Darme.
- © AFP 2016.
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Why are you warning “people” to cook meat correctly – warn the cooks/chefs in our hospitality industry.
@John Flood: John, there lies the problem. People want to cater at home and get their supplies from Catering Companies but unfortunately home appliances are sometimes not up to the job of cooking for large amounts of people. How many people test the temperature of food at home before serving it ?
@John Flood: Cooks & chefs are “people” too. Most people cook at home. Home isn’t exempt from this.
@John Flood: I suppose some is cooked at home…
@John Flood: never happen on the south side lol.
Some heads will need to roll after this.
I never got the “rare” cooked meat or steak tartare thing myself. Aside from bacterial contamination undercooked meat may carry parasitic eggs which will not be killed if the temperature is insufficient.
@Permo Dermo: Depends on what you’re cooking. Steak (assuming its fresh and from a reputable source) only needs to have the areas that have been exposed to the air cooked as it doesn’t tend to carry parasites or harmful bacteria, unlike chicken or pork. Tartar (or rare hamburgers) are risky, but even a blue steak is very unlikely to cause harm
Obviously no HAACP paperwork done.
@RJ.Fallon: you’ll find it’s done alright, with the same copy and paste job as yesterday. It is at best negligent and at worst criminal to have done this. Beyond scandalous. At least the names of those involved are out so we can
A V O I D.
@: Agreed,I should have said,if HAASP is used by conscientious staff, committed to their work. And hopefully,most are. Plus ,I know that Food Safety inspectors are ruthless in their checking of these records.
@: so if you buy a chicken in Tesco and under cook it and give your family salmonella, do you name and shame Tesco ?
I love chicken curry
@paul kelly: I’m glad for that..
@paul kelly: I like turtles.
Just getting over a bad dose of food poisoning from chicken goujons I had yesterday. Bought frozen, cooked for 45 mins in the oven, puking my ring for 12 hours shortly after in between the sweats and the chills. Horrendous.
@Jimmy Ireland: Get well soon. I once had food poisoning for months, a rare bug that 99% of people wouldn’t be bothered by. That was a nightmare, all I could think of was food but I couldn’t eat any. Ended up in hospital on a drip and a few days later eventually managed to eat half a piece of toast. Nothing had ever tasted so great. It was one of the best meals ever! I’ll never take buttered toast for granted again.
Was the chicken in this case cooked by the caterers and then reheated at the communion parties? Presumably it was and it would then fully have been the catering company at fault.
Any catering company selling chicken resulting in a salmonella outbreak should be shut down permanently
@@UK: I don’t know about that. People do leave food out for hours in warm weather. There’s food poisoning every summer. Maybe they needed a spare fridge for the day?
I had a bout of Salmonella that I picked up after travelling in Vietnam. Got it on my last day there. After all those weeks of eating local street food etc, it was the bloody western style cafe that I went to on the last day there… Thankfully the worst didn’t kick in until i got back to Ireland. It was awful. Wouldn’t wish it on anyone!
Why don’t they ever say the pains in your stomach will be terrible as well. They never say this.
@Rockhopper617: I don’t think other people want to hear all the gory details, that’s why. Also, if it goes on for long enough, your potassium levels plunge and your shins feel as if they’re about to snap when you walk. Seriously, once you’re better, I think the last thing you want is to dwell on how sick you were, you’re just delighted to feel human again, without putting other people off their food.
have your say