The Pope from the camps ...

Pope Francis often seems to me to echo those who were imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camps in WWII.

His message reminds me of the Christian witness of people like Betsy and Corrie Ten Boom, Fr. Delp, Bonhoeffer and others, such as Fr. Walter Ciszek, imprisoned by the Soviets.  In those desperate situations there surely seemed to be a deeper ecumenism of blood.

"How could the Father refuse the grace of unity, albeit still imperfect, to His children who suffer together and, in different situations, join in serving their brothers and sisters?”

“For all too long, your people have experienced troubles and violence, resulting in great suffering. This makes the proclamation of the Gospel all the more necessary and urgent. For it is Christ’s own flesh which suffers in his dearest sons and daughters: the poorest of his people, the infirm, the elderly, the abandoned, children without parents or left to themselves without guidance and education. There are also those who have been scarred in soul or body by hatred and violence, those whom war has deprived of everything: work, home and loved ones”.

“God makes no distinctions between those who suffer. I have often called this the ecumenism of blood. All our communities suffer indiscriminately as a result of injustice and the blind hatred unleashed by the devil." - Pope Francis