Salvini challenges Pope on migrants

(ANSA) - Rome, August 7 - Northern League Leader Matteo Salvini on Friday challenged Pope Francis after the pontiff said it was an act of war to reject migrants.
    In a Facebook post, Salvini, whose party is opposed to undocumented migrants, disagreed with the pope's words.
    "Rejecting illegal immigrants is crime?," wrote Salvini on the social media website.
    "No, it's a duty. Am I wrong?" added Salvini.
    Earlier in the day, Francis told a youth organization that when migrants are forced to flee from country to country, with no one giving them shelter, "this is an unresolved conflict, and this is war, this is violence, it's called murder". The League leader is wrong in his assessment, said Edoardo Patriarca, the Democratic Party (PD) Lower House member who is vice-president of a commission on migration. He pointed to previous times Salvini challenged the pope's words on social justice.
    "He doesn't miss an opportunity to attack (the pope)," said Patriarca.
    "The League leader has an obsession, but it is unconvincing".