Francis returns to ask for “justice” for those who risk their lives at sea: “The phenomenon must be governed with European responsibility”. The Elysée: “We have nothing to be ashamed of”
“We cannot send migrants back like ping-pong“. The Pope underlined this on the return flight from Marseille, answering a question about the plight of migrants. He began his pontificate in Lampedusa by denouncing indifference. Ten years later he asks Europe for solidarity. He has been relaunching the same message for ten years, does that mean he has failed? “No. – the Pope’s response – . I would say that the growth of awareness has been slow. Today there is awareness of the migration problem, which has arrived like a hot potato that no one knows how to take. Angela Merkel once said that it could be solved by going to Africa and raising the living standards of the African people. There have been very bad cases, where migrants were sent back, like in ping-pong, despite knowing that many times they end up in concentration camps, worse than before. Those people suffer because it is the reign of terror. They are slaves. We can’t send them back like ping-pong. Migrants must be welcomed, protected, promoted and integrated. If you cannot integrate him into your country, accompany him to his land, but do not leave him in the hands of cruel criminals, wretched criminals who do so much harm. This is the migration problem.”
” There are groups of people who are dedicated to saving lives at sea. They tell terrible things. I invited the head of the Mediterranean NGO, Luca Casarini, to the Synod. From Lampedusa – he explained – ten years ago things improved, then we had no information, they didn’t tell us the truth, today there is more awareness, a lot of people talk about it. They told me: look at that woman, she is a doctor: she went among the corpses to look for the face of her daughter, because she hadn’t found it. We must take these situations to heart. She will make us more human, more divine. I would like it to be like a cry: let’s be careful, let’s do something. I also wanted to say that there are five countries in difficulty due to the arrival of so many migrants. In some of these there are places, towns, voids: please let these towns make the effort to integrate. We need it. Well-conducted immigrations are an asset.” Of Marseille, Bergoglio said that “it is a civilization of many cultures, a port of migrants. Marseille is a culture of encounters. Muslims, Jews and Christians coexist. We do coexistence. It’s a culture of helping. It’s a creative mosaic. A port that is a message to Europe. Marseille welcomes, recipes and makes a synthesis, without denying the identity. We need to take inspiration from other parts.”
“Migrants must be welcomed, protected, promoted and integrated. If you cannot integrate them into your country, accompany them to their land, but do not leave them in the hands of cruel criminals, wretched criminals who do so much harm. This is the migration problem” he said the Pope. “There are groups of people who dedicate themselves to saving lives at sea. They tell terrible things. I invited the head of the Mediterranean NGO, Luca Casarini, to the Synod. Since Lampedusa – he explained – ten years ago things have improved, back then we had no information, they didn’t tell us the truth, today there is more conscience, many people talk about it. They told me: look at that woman, she’s a doctor: she went among the corpses to look for her daughter’s face, why didn’t she find it? ‘he had found. We must take these situations to heart. It will make us more human, more divine. I would like it to be like a cry: let’s be careful, let’s do something. I also wanted to say that there are five countries in difficulty due to the arrival of so many migrants. In some of these there are places, towns, voids: please let these towns make the effort to integrate. We need it. Well-conducted immigrations are an asset.” Of Marseille, Bergoglio said that “it is a civilization of many cultures, a port of migrants. Marseille is a culture of encounters. Muslims, Jews and Christians coexist. We do coexistence. It’s a culture of helping. It’s a creative mosaic. A port that is a message to Europe. Marseille welcomes, recipes and makes a synthesis, without denying the identity. We have to take inspiration from other parts.”
“The port of Marseille has been a door wide open to the sea, France and Europe for centuries. From here many have left to find work and a future abroad, and from here many have crossed the door to the continent with baggage full of hope “Marseille has a large port and it is a large door, which cannot be closed. Various Mediterranean ports, however, have closed. And two words have resonated, fueling people’s fears: “invasion” and “emergency”. – he says the Pontiff eloquently – But those who risk their lives at sea do not invade, they seek acceptance”.
“No to alarmist propaganda”
“As for the emergency – said Bergoglio – the migratory phenomenon is not so much a temporary emergency, always good for spreading alarmist propaganda, but a fact of our times, a process which involves three continents around the Mediterranean and which governed with wise foresight: with a European responsibility capable of facing objective difficulties”.
“The Mediterranean cries out for justice”
“The mare nostrum – says Francis – cries out for justice, with its shores which on one side exude opulence, consumerism and waste, while on the other there are poverty and precariousness. Here too the Mediterranean reflects the world, with the South turning towards the North, with many developing countries, afflicted by instability, regimes, wars and desertification, which look to the wealthy ones, in a globalized world in which we are all connected but the gaps have never been so deep.” Yet, he observes, recalling the interventions of his predecessors, “this situation is not new in recent years, and this Pope from the other side of the world is not the first to notice it with urgency and concern. The Church has spoken about it in heartfelt tones for more than fifty years.”
“Preventing the collapse of civilization”
“The difficulties in welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating unexpected people are clear for all to see – admits the Pontiff – but the main criterion cannot be the maintenance of one’s own well-being, but rather the safeguarding of human dignity. Those who refugees from us – Bergoglio underlines – should not be seen as a burden to bear: if we consider them brothers, they will appear to us above all as gifts”, says the Pope, recalling that tomorrow the World Day of Migrants and Refugees will be celebrated. Hence the warning: “Let us allow ourselves to be touched by the history of so many of our brothers and sisters in difficulty, who have the right both to emigrate and not to emigrate, and let us not withdraw into indifference. History calls us to take a leap of conscience to prevent a shipwreck of civilisation. The the future, in fact, will not be in closure, which is a return to the past, a U-turn in the path of history”.
“The future will be together or it will not be”
“Against the terrible scourge of the exploitation of human beings, the solution is not to reject – warns the Pope – but to ensure, according to each individual’s possibilities, a large number of legal and regular entries, sustainable thanks to fair reception by the European continent, in the context of collaboration with the countries of origin. Saying ‘enough’, instead – he says – is closing your eyes; attempting to “save oneself” now will turn into tragedy tomorrow, when future generations will thank us if we have been able to create the conditions for essential integration, while they will blame us if we have only favored sterile assimilations. Integration is tiring – he acknowledges – but far-sighted: it prepares the future which, like it or not, will be together or not; assimilation, which does not take differences into account and remains rigid in its own paradigms, instead makes the idea prevail over reality and compromises the future, increasing distances and causing ghettoisation, which causes hostility and intolerance to flare up”.
“We need brotherhood like bread”
“We need brotherhood like bread. – says the Pontiff – The very word ‘brother’, in its Indo-European derivation, reveals a root linked to nutrition and sustenance. We will only support ourselves by nourishing the weakest with hope, welcoming them as brothers “, concludes the Pontiff.
Eliseo on migrants: “France has nothing to be ashamed of”
”France has nothing to be ashamed of” regarding the management of migrants. The Elysée said this in a note referring to the private meeting that French President Emanuel Macron had in Marseille with Pope Francis. France, continued the Elysée, ”is a country of welcome and integration”.
Source-www.adnkronos.com