Pope Francis speaks about Christianity in Europe

Pope Francis has spoken about his views on the issue of mass migration as well as the expression that Europe has "Christian roots."

In an interview with Catholic publication La Croix, the pontiff said, "We need to speak of roots in the plural because there are so many. In this sense, when I hear talk of the Christian roots of Europe, I sometimes dread the tone, which can seem triumphalist or even vengeful. It then takes on colonialist overtones."

He acknowledged that Europe has Christian roots and it is the responsibility of Christianity to water those roots, but he said that this must be done in a spirit of service, akin to washing of feet.

"In other words, service and the gift of life," he explained. "It must not become a colonial enterprise."

With regard to mass migration in Europe, the pope said that the gates should not be opened unreasonably wide; rather, one must ask why there are so many migrants. He zeroes in on wars, which causes hunger. These wars exist because of arms manufacturers and arms traffickers. There is also the issue of unemployment.

"More generally, this raises the question of a world economic system that has descended into the idolatry of money," he said. "The great majority of humanity's wealth has fallen into the hands of a minority of the population."

Moreover, he said that there is a need to integrate migrants rather than "ghettoize" them. In his view, it is possible for Christians and Muslims to co-exist, and there is "the need for Europe to rediscover its capacity to integrate." For him, there is not so much a fear of Islam but of ISIS and its efforts to conquer, a principle that is, in part, drawn from Islam. He, however, said that Jesus sending out his disciples has a similar idea of conquest. 

The pope also expressed that there should be a separation of church and state -- that states must be secular -- and people should be free to express their own faith. Governments are the ones that make laws, but they must respect people's consciences.

"The right to conscientious objection must be recognized within each legal structure because it is a human right," he said. "Including for a government official, who is a human person."