Pope urges tolerance of Gypsies

AS France continues its campaign to repatriate foreign-born Gypsies, Pope Benedict XVI called for greater acceptance of cultural differences and urged parents to teach their children tolerance.

Speaking in French to pilgrims gathered in the courtyard of the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo on Aug. 22, the Pope said the day’s Scriptures were “an invitation to learn how to accept legitimate differences among human beings, just like Jesus came to unite men and women from every nation and every language.”

After praying the Angelus, he urged families to teach tolerance.

“Dear parents, may you be able to educate your children about universal fraternity,” he said in French.

The pope’s invitation came amid a government-led campaign to expel foreign-born Roma, or Gypsies, from France and dismantle illegal camps.

French Immigration Minister Eric Besson said that by Aug. 31, approximately 950 Roma from 88 camps would have been sent back to Romania and Bulgaria.

The expulsions were part of a voluntary repatriation program in which the government paid each adult about $380 and each child about $130 to return to his or her country of origin, even though the Gypsies are members of the European Union.

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