You would think Pope Francis – a progressive who believes in female empowerment – would be delighted that Giorgia Meloni is set to become the first female Prime Minister of Italy. As polls predicted, a centre-right coalition made up of Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy), former PM Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (Forward Italy) and Matteo Salvini’s Lega Nord (Northern League) looks set to win, with Meloni’s party the largest.
Yet, the very same day as Italians were going to the polls and turning out for a politician and alliance which has made a big noise about secure borders, Pope Francis urged Italians to help migrants. To be fair, Sunday was the Church’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees, but the words felt more than coincidental. This is a pontiff, after all, who has called on Catholics to take in refugees in the past, asking “why not make a policy of the West where immigrants are included with the principle that the migrant should be welcomed, accompanied, promoted, and integrated?” He said on his return from Kazakhstan, “migration I think at this time should be taken seriously, because it raises the intellectual and congenial value of the West a little bit.”
