Pope Francis says we can't 'turn a blind eye' to the 'sin of racism' after death of George Floyd

Pope Francis has spoken out about the "tragic" death of George Floyd and "disturbing" unrest throughout the United States.

The pope on Wednesday commented from the Vatican on the death of Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed black man, in police custody and the subsequent outrage and demonstrations his killing sparked.

"Dear brothers and sisters in the United States, I have witnessed with great concern the disturbing social unrest in your nation in these past days, following the tragic death of Mr. George Floyd," Francis said, CNN reports. "My friends, we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The pope said he is praying for Floyd and for "all those others who have lost their lives as a result of the sin of racism" and added, "let us implore the national reconciliation and peace for which we yearn," per The Washington Post.

The comments from the pope came following more than a week of protests, and Francis said that "we have to recognize that the violence of recent nights is self-destructive and self-defeating." CNN's Vatican analyst John Allen observed that for Francis to reference the name of a specific person like he did Floyd in his weekly prayer is "relatively rare."