ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis has repeated that some migrant holding centers in Europe amount to “concentration camps,” even after Jewish groups urged him to stop using the loaded term.
A German reporter asked Francis if he had made a linguistic slip when he first made the remarks last week, adding that they had been met with shock in Germany. Speaking Saturday en route home from Egypt, Francis appeared to not appreciate the controversy, saying that there are some refugee holding centers where migrants are penned in and prevented from leaving.
He said: “There are refugee camps that are true concentration camps.”
The American Jewish Committee sharply criticized the remarks and urged Francis to use a different choice of words.
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