Pope Francis brought a Syrian woman, Nur Essa, and her family to Rome last April, and, apparently, has been extremely open and accepting of her culture and religious views. Essa says that she was pleasantly surprised with the Pope’s accepting nature and willingness to learn about her culture and religion and others’ as well. Essa has met Pope Francis a few times and has had great, accepting experiences every time. She had the opportunity to ask him about immigrant integration in Italy, as she is concerned about her loved ones. Thinking about refugees seeking new homes and wanting to be accepted into a new society to call home reminds me tremendously of the first case study presentation (that I was a part of) that discussed God Needs No Passport by Peggy Levitt. This idea also makes me think about us, the students in this class, visiting different religious congregations. We are all being open to the new experiences and are accepting others for who they are. I think this is an amazing quality for individuals in our society to have, and it is great that the Pope, such an influential figure in society, is being such a lovely example of it.

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/02/20/muslim-refugee-hails-pope-francis-example-religion/