NEWS: On Thanksgiving, Pope Francis will meet @RevDrBarber, who's leading a revival of MLK's Poor People's Campaign. Barber is among international grassroots leaders meeting @Pontifex that day. https://t.co/PsYcqqJd9x
— Laurie Goodstein (@lauriegnyt) November 20, 2017
"“[The Pope] wants to bless this movement, and meet with other activists from around the world who are fighting against poverty" @RevDrBarber https://t.co/z81oBDYGkR
— Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons (@GuthrieGF) November 20, 2017
… Dr. Barber, who officially stepped down in October after 12 years as president of the N.C. NAACP, will be part of a two-day conference attended by social justice advocates from countries like Canada, Senegal, Italy, Ireland, Tunisia, Ghana, Brazil, and the United States, among others.
It’s no doubt that Dr. Barber’s involvement in the 50 anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1968 Poor’s People’s Campaign caught the attention of not only national, but international social justice leadership, like Pope Francis, who is world reknowned for his personal and official advocacy for the poor.
Just last Sunday in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, celebrated a special Mass for poor people on the first World Day of the Poor, eating with 1,500 from Italy, Poland and France.
The pope also denounced those who express indifference to the plight of the poor, calling such behavior “ a great sin.”
“It is when we turn away from a brother or sister in need, when we change channels as soon as a disturbing question comes up, when we grow indignant at evil but do nothing about it,” Pope Francis said. “God will not ask us if we felt righteous indignation, but whether we did some good.”
Dr. Barber’s organization, Repairers of the Breach, “seeks to build a moral agenda rooted in the framework that uplift’s our deepest moral and constitutional values to redeem the heart and soul of our country,” it says on its website.
“Our deepest moral traditions point to equal protection under the law, the desire for peace within and among nations, the dignity of all people, and the responsibility to care for our common home.”…
Rev Barber has also been a leader in organizing, protesting, & pressuring to ensure voting rights. https://t.co/Oy7HuN25eF
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) November 20, 2017
Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the spectrum, the Washington Post reports that Grifters Gonna Grift…
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