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Vatican City, Jun 6, 2017 / 02:24 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said Tuesday that truthfulness is the weapon against the temptation of hypocrisy, which destroys the community with lies and flattery.

“The hypocrite is capable of destroying a community. While speaking gently, he ruinously judges a person. He is a killer,” said the Pope during his homily at Mass June 6 at the chapel of the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta.

Pope Francis reflected on the Gospel passage in which the Pharisees and Herodians, who tried to ensnare Christ with his words, began by flattery.

“The hypocrite always uses language to flatter,” said the Pope, explaining that they will exaggerate the truth, “feeding into one’s vanity.”

He continued to the say that hypocrites are two-faced, and “the language of hypocrisy is the language of deceit, it is the same language the serpent used with Eve.”

He gave an example of a priest he met who “drank up all the flattery,” and he said that flattery is initiated by bad intentions. He said the Pharisees were trying to hide their true intentions, hoping to test Christ by asking him, “is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”

However, he said reality and truth are the tools to combat such hypocrisy, and it is Christ who exposes a lie with reality.

“Jesus always responds to hypocrites and ideologists with reality: ‘this is the reality; everything else is either hypocrisy or ideology.’”

He continued to say that “the reality was that the coin carried the image of Caesar.”

Hypocrisy not only destroys community, but he said it also “tears to pieces the personality and the soul of a person.”

Pope Francis ended his homily asking the Lord to strengthen a commitment to truth by the members of the Church.

“Let us ask the Lord to guard us from this vice, to help us be truthful, and if this is not possible to keep silent – but never to be a hypocrite.”

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Dublin, Ireland, Jun 6, 2017 / 04:47 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Ireland's Catholic bishops have praised a Supreme Court decision in the country that will allow asylum seekers to find work while their status is being decided.

The Republic of Ireland's supreme court ruled May 30 that laws which indefinitely prohibit asylum seekers from gaining employment were unconstitutional.

The case was brought by a Burmese refugee who was in the asylum system eight years before he was given refugee status. He maintained that being allowed to work was vital to his self worth, dignity, and development.

The judgement considered the right to seek employment as “part of the human personality”, which cannot therefore be restricted to citizens.

Bishop John McAreavey of Dromore, chair of the Irish Bishops’ Council for Justice and Peace, said, “The words of the Court are powerful and profound, and speak to what we should aspire to: ‘This damage to the individual’s self-worth, and sense of themselves, is exactly the damage which the constitutional right [to seek employment] seeks to guard against.'”

He wrote in a June 5 statement that the decision reflects the values of Pope Francis, who has asked all countries for a “generous openness” to migrants, at a time when much of the world is experiencing what has been called a refugee crisis.

Millions of asylum seekers from the Middle East and elsewhere have poured into the European Union and other regions, seeking refuge from violence and economic hardship.

Countries throughout Europe have struggled to accommodate the large number of asylum seekers. Ireland has promised to accept 700 refugees this year, though the migration of some of these has been stalled due to vetting negotiations.

Bishop McAreavey noted that the physical and psychological welfare of migrants has been a concern of the bishops of the Council for Justice and Peace, which has publicly raised issues related to Direct Provision Centres, the Republic of Ireland's system to care for asylum seekers.

“Removing the ban on work means that people in Direct Provision Centres are more likely to integrate and be part of a rich, diverse and yet more unified society; asylum seekers will recover their self-respect through work and we all will benefit from their skills and gifts,” Bishop McAreavey said.

He encouraged the government to “see the great merit – moral, civic, cultural and economic – of allowing migrants who are already in Ireland to participate and contribute to our society here. I would encourage policymakers to balance the Government’s duty to manage the resources of the State with the parallel duty to treat asylum seekers humanely.

The bishop noted that asylum seekers and their families have a “dear wish to integrate and contribute to the common good of Irish society.”

“I am grateful to the Supreme Court for reminding us, during these unsettled and cynical times, of what we must be about as a culture, namely, a society that both protects the person and allows his or her talents to flourish,” he concluded.

The ban on asylum seekers working was based on several laws, and can be corrected in a number of ways. Thus the court decided to wait six months to allow for executive and legislative fixes before making specific orders.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Ed Langlois, Catholic Sentinel

By Ed Langlois

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- The morning after police in Portland arrested 14 demonstrators at dueling political protests, about 800 worshippers turned out in a unified show of support for a man whose heroic act transcended division.

Ricky Best was laid to rest in Willamette National Cemetery in Portland June 5 after a funeral Mass at a packed Christ the King Church in the suburb of Milwaukie. On hand were Christians, Muslims, Jews, peace activists and members of a motorcycle club that backs President Donald Trump.

"Many of us consider him a hero. Many of us in the church consider him a martyr," said Msgr. Richard Paperini, pastor of Christ the King.

Best, a 53-year-old city of Portland employee, was one of three men who stepped forward May 26 to defend two teens on a Portland commuter train. The girls, one in a Muslim headscarf and the other black, were the target of an anti-Muslim and racist verbal attack from 35-year-old Jeremy Christian.

When Best -- along with 23-year-old Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and 21-year-old Micah Fletcher -- spoke up, Christian pulled a knife and slashed at the men. Best and Namkai-Meche died and Fletcher was hospitalized. Police apprehended Christian, who has been arraigned on charges of aggravated murder.

One of the girls, 16-year-old Destinee Mangum, attended the funeral with her family.

During the Mass, Best's 19-year-old son spoke to the crowd.

"I look into my father's eyes and I see the love of God made manifest," Erik Best, a Clackamas Community College student, said in a halting voice. "He loved everyone."

The whole family wore white headbands, a symbol of mourning and honor in the Vietnamese tradition of Myhanh, Best's wife.

"We are grateful to Ricky for the example he gave us," Msgr. Paperini said during his homily, citing the Gospel reading from St. John, which said in part: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." He told the Best family that the parish stands with them now and will stand with them in the future.

"He saw the opportunity to love as a privilege," said Msgr. Paperini, who recalled Best once telling him: "It's really not about us, but about our ability to be there for others."

Portland Archbishop Alexander K. Sample, who attended the funeral, said Best fulfilled the call of those who follow Jesus, an act that will live on in memory and change the world for the better. The archbishop said even he asks "why?" when tragedies happen, but over time, "I always see the good God is able to draw out of the most horrible of human tragedies."

He said Best's act of heroism has already borne fruit, drawing together Christians and Muslims in a mutual stand against hate and violence.

Harris Zafar of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Portland told mourners he wishes he could thank Best in the flesh.

"I would thank him for being the father I strive to be and the human being I strive to be," Zafar said. "I would tell him thank you for helping me be able to go home to my kids and say, 'Daddy was wrong. Superheroes do exist.'"

Zafar cited the Quran, which says that if you kill one, it's as if you have killed all; and if you save a life, it is as if you saved all.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley attended the funeral and greeted the family.

As the funeral procession wound up Mount Scott to the cemetery, citizens lined the road, waved flags and saluted.

At the cemetery, more than 50 flag-carrying motorcyclists welcomed the hearse. Best, who served in the Army for 23 years, was buried with full military honors. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown was on hand to help present the casket flag to his wife.

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Langlois is managing editor of the Catholic Sentinel, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Portland.

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