Papal message on migrants, refugees: ‘Church without frontiers, mother to all’
September 23, 2014
The Holy See Press Office has released Pope Francis’s Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which will take place on January 18.
In the message, entitled “Church without frontiers, mother to all,” the Pope writes that Jesus’ “solicitude, particularly for the most vulnerable and marginalized, invites all of us to care for the frailest and to recognize his suffering countenance, especially in the victims of new forms of poverty and slavery.”
“The mission of the Church, herself a pilgrim in the world and the Mother of all, is thus to love Jesus Christ, to adore and love him, particularly in the poorest and most abandoned; among these are certainly migrants and refugees, who are trying to escape difficult living conditions and dangers of every kind,” Pope Francis added.
He continued:
The Church without frontiers, Mother to all, spreads throughout the world a culture of acceptance and solidarity, in which no one is seen as useless, out of place or disposable. When living out this motherhood effectively, the Christian community nourishes, guides and indicates the way, accompanying all with patience, and drawing close to them through prayer and works of mercy.
Today this takes on a particular significance. In fact, in an age of such vast movements of migration, large numbers of people are leaving their homelands, with a suitcase full of fears and desires, to undertake a hopeful and dangerous trip in search of more humane living conditions. Often, however, such migration gives rise to suspicion and hostility, even in ecclesial communities, prior to any knowledge of the migrants’ lives or their stories of persecution and destitution. In such cases, suspicion and prejudice conflict with the biblical commandment of welcoming with respect and solidarity the stranger in need.
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Posted by: jplaunder1846 -
Sep. 25, 2014 9:18 AM ET USA
Part 2. The continuing bitter conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is a dispute that heightens all others in the Middle East. The gross inequalities between nations is another. We have to be more creative in resolving the disputes that cause refugee outflows in which desperate people risk their lives seeking peace and stability for themselves and their families.
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Posted by: jplaunder1846 -
Sep. 25, 2014 9:14 AM ET USA
I totally agree with Pope Francis. From my old YCW days of See-Judge-Act, the Pope's view is one we must try to carry out. Yes I know for Western nations there are difficulties but then we should also be looking to try seriously to resolve many of the issues that lead to refugee exodus. Many of the courses relate to the way the Western colonisers left their former colonies which often bore little resemblance to the ethnic/tribal situations in them.
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Posted by: [email protected] -
Sep. 23, 2014 7:35 PM ET USA
That is fine for the Church and it is as it should be. However, it is not good for nations which need some control so as not to be overrun.
