~ by Carol Glatz, Vatican News
VATICAN CITY: Safe, organized, legal and sustainable migration is in the interest of all countries, Pope Francis wrote.
“If this is not recognized, there is a risk that fear will erase people’s future and justify those barriers against which lives are shattered,” he said in a written address to refugees and to the volunteers and organizations who helped welcome and integrate them in Europe.
Speaking to the refugees and those who have helped them, the pope said, “Thank you for promoting this work of welcoming which is a concrete commitment to peace. Welcoming is the first step toward peace.”
The Vatican audience hall March 18 was filled with individuals and families from many countries at war or affected by severe humanitarian emergencies, such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria, Congo, Libya and Ukraine.
The pope only read a few passages from his prepared text, but spent about 25 minutes making his way, seated in a wheelchair, through the hall greeting guests and exchanging many hugs with enthusiastic children. One small boy insisted the pope accept his gift of a stuffed Spider-Man doll.
The migrants and refugees came to Italy and other European countries thanks to an initiative started in 2016 to create “humanitarian corridors” in which volunteers and organizations on the ground in areas of conflict identify people who are especially vulnerable and arrange for their safe and legal passage to communities prepared to take them in. They also help with housing, education and other forms of assistance.
The Rome-based Community of Sant’Egidio established
Pope Francis greets a child during an audience with hundreds of refugees and displaced people and with those who have assisted them at the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall March 18, 2023. More than 6,000 people have come to Italy and other countries thanks to “humanitarian corridors” in which organizations arrange for the safe and legal passage of vulnerable people in areas of conflict. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
project together with the Federation of Evangelical Churches, the Waldensian church of Italy, the Italian branch of Caritas and the Italian bishops’ conference.
The project was started to help people avoid dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea in unsafe vessels, to prevent exploitation by human traffickers and to give priority to those in especially precarious conditions. More than 6,000 people have been offered legal passage and integration through the project since 2016.
In his spoken remarks, the pope thanked the organizations for their generosity and creativity and the commitment shown by governments for welcoming newcomers.
Denying asylum puts children in serious, unthinkable danger. President Biden MUST do better — and the first step is stopping the asylum ban.
In last week’s Update, there was an announcement regarding a Catholic Relief Services Ambassadors’ panel on immigration that was to be held on February 9th on the campus of Cabrini University. The following is an account on the panel written by Dr. Jerry Zurek, Professor, Communications Department, Cabrini University and Coordinator, CRS – Cabrini University Partnership.
The “era of migrations” we live in has seen an unprecedented number of forcibly displaced people. Extreme poverty, persisting wars and violence, drastic climate change and natural disasters, produce millions of asylum seekers and migrants.
particular, Mother Cabrini has articulated a dynamic approach that remains valid in the changed sociopolitical context of today. It had not been a sudden decision that pushed Mother Cabrini to plunge into the care of migrants, but a process of awareness and empathy for the needy.
third step shows the wide horizon within which Mother Cabrini was enlarging, and at the same time, consolidating her commitment to the care of people on the move. She confirms this priority after her first direct experience with the immigrants in New York City where she had arrived in 1889.
, the fifth step, Mother Cabrini did not back down for reminding public officials of their responsibility to contribute to the services she had started and to choose policies that would ease the problems of the immigrants.
~ by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
~ by Claire Giangrave, The Washington Post
Catholic Church in the United States has celebrated National Migration Week, which is an opportunity for the Church to reflect on the circumstances confronting migrants, including immigrants, refugees, children, and victims and survivors of human trafficking.