Receiving the International Catholic Commission for Migration, Francis stated that "we must encourage countries to coordinate more suitable and effective responses to the challenges posed by issues of migration; and we can do this on the basis of the essential principles of the Church’s social teaching".
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - We need a "sincere and open" dialogue with those who govern to respond to the challenges posed by migration, which see millions of people subjected to harassment of all kinds, said Pope Francis in his greeting to the members of the Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), received on the occasion of the Plenary Council (in the photo).
Francis defined the conditions in which millions of migrants and refugees subsist as inhumane. Those who are forced to leave their homeland is too often a victim of "deception, violence and abuse of all kinds". "Just as he did at the time of Israel’s enslavement in Egypt, so too the Lord hears their cry and sees their sufferings (cf. Ex 3:7). Today as in the past, liberating the poor, the oppressed and the persecuted is an integral part of the mission entrusted by God to the Church. The work of your Commission represents a tangible expression of this important missionary commitment. Much has changed since your establishment in 1951. Needs have grown ever more complex, tools for responding ever more sophisticated, and your service increasingly professional. Thanks be to God, none of these changes has lessened the Commission’s fidelity to its mission".
The Lord, he continued, sent Moses "to his oppressed people to wipe away their tears and give back hope". Today another people, made up of millions of oppressed people, is waiting to be freed. "In order to set free those who today are oppressed, rejected and enslaved, it is essential to promote open and sincere dialogue with government leaders, a dialogue that takes into account people’s actual experiences, sufferings and aspirations, in order to remind everyone once more of his or her responsibilities. The processes set in motion by the international community for a global agreement on refugees, and another for safe, orderly and regulated migration, represent a privileged forum for implementing such dialogue".
"The work is not over. Together we must encourage countries to coordinate more suitable and effective responses to the challenges posed by issues of migration; and we can do this on the basis of the essential principles of the Church’s social teaching. We must likewise commit ourselves to ensuring that, as a sign of shared global responsibility, concrete engagement follows from the words already codified in the aforementioned two agreements. Yet the Commission’s commitment goes even further. I ask the Holy Spirit to continue to enlighten all of you, as you carry out your vital mission of showing forth God’s merciful love to our migrant brothers and sisters. I assure you of my closeness and my prayers; and I ask you, please, not to forget to pray for me".