Pope admonishes Gypsies to repair public image
October 26, 2015
Pope Francis supported the political rights of Gypsies, but also urged Gypsies to respect the law, in an October 26 address.
Speaking to an audience of 7,000 Gypsies in the Vatican’s Paul VI auditorium, at an event organized for the 50th anniversary of a meeting between Blessed Paul VI and Roma people, the Pope said: “The time has come to uproot secular prejudice, preconceived ideas and the reciprocal diffidence that are often at the base of discrimination, racism, and xenophobia.”
Itinerant peoples should play their own part in repairing their public image, the Pope said. “You can do this if you are good Christians, avoiding all that is not worthy of this name: lies, frauds, swindles, altercations.” He added that young Gypsies will face far better prospects if they are educated, and insisted that parents should not prevent their children from attending public schools.
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