Fear is the sum total of all hatred

“Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.”— Maya Angelou
Pope Francis is on a six day visit to America and his visit is very poignant and timely. Pope Francis is a frugal man and a friend of the poor. This is very much in the tradition of another icon of the Catholic Church, whose name he has borrowed,St Francis of Assisi.
He has been consistent in what has marked his papacy so far: he has acted tirelessly to deal with sexual abuses in the church and has helped ensure these acts are registered as crimes, he talked frankly about climate change and the responsibility of  the world leaders. He helped brokered  the US and Cuba diplomatic ties, chooses humility above luxury possessions, and he is known to leave the Vatican at night to help the homeless, he encouraged cooperation between Christians and Muslims and he said that Christians and Muslims should work together to achieve love.
In America,President Barak Obama has been the butt of the derision for many of the republican presidential aspirants and the Republican Party members, casting aspersions that Obama is not American and that he is a Muslim.  In spite of this, Obama came forward with his birth certificate and it appeared that he can trace his family on both sides. It is evident that no matter what he does, he can never do anything right to satisfy his detractors. And  why should he? The reason is simply because he is black and that does not sit well with those who are conditioned prejudiced and racists.
This also comes at a time when young African Americans are facing police brutality,wrongful arrest and mass incarceration. On top of this, there is the anti- immigrants sentimentality  brewing especially if you do not fit the brief as the quintessential white Americans. Funny that, because the real North Americans are Native Americans. They too, have been discriminated against, in fact they have to prove that they are Native Americans!
Discrimination and prejudice is poisonous as it pits people against people and those that suffer are the ordinary people who have no power but definitely will be caught in the hatred and the melee.
So in the wake of such division and hatred that is gripping America, Pope Francis has come to spread his brand of papacy.
So it is in this storm, that the Holy Father flies in and he too, has declared he is a son of immigrants!  Imagine the faces on these haters that the Holy Father have decided to take the sides of the foreigners. This is the mark of this Pope that sets him aside from his predecessors.  He did away with the pope mobile and he is more accessible to the people. Love is a wonderful thing. This pope is a man of the people and one that does not mind stepping on the toes of the rich and the oppressors.
He says it as it is and refuses to be give in to the pomp and ceremony. In fact, he will be passing on lunching with the lawmakers after he has addressed the congress and instead, he will dine with homeless people in Washington.
I am writing at a time  in  Nigeria,when there is more that should unite us than divide us. There are some of us that are hell-bent on espousing hatred and they cannot see anything else. So here is one from my archives in Generation X, October 21, 2012 -this was before the great man passed on:
“I have not bought my copy of the book so I cannot make any comment on its contents. What, I however, find disconcerting is: some people’s attitude to the fact, that Chinua Achebe had the gall to have an opinion and write it in a book!



Check the Vanguard newspaper for the full story.