General Audience: Reflection of Pope Francis on the current situation of migrants

Pope Francis postponed his usual catechesis at the General Audience on August 28 to denounce the current situation of migrants, victims of “indifference and discarding.”

Below are the words of Pope Francis:

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today, postponing the usual catechesis, I would like to stop with you to think about the people who – also at this moment – ​​are crossing seas and deserts to reach a land where they can live in peace and security.

Sea and desert: These two words appear again in many testimonies that I receive, both from migrants and from people who are committed to rescuing them. When I say “sea,” in the context of migration, I also mean the ocean, lake, river, all the treacherous bodies of water that so many brothers and sisters from any part of the world are forced to cross to reach their destination. And “desert” is not only sand and dunes, or rocky, but also all those inaccessible and dangerous territories such as forests, jungles, steppes, where migrants walk alone, abandoned to their fate. Migrants, sea and desert.

Today’s migratory routes are often marked by crossings of seas and deserts, which, for many, too many people, too many, are deadly. For this reason today, I wanted to stop in this drama, in this pain. We know some of these routes better, because they are often in the spotlight; Others, the majority, are little known, but no less traveled for that reason.

I have spoken many times about the Mediterranean, because I am Bishop of Rome and because it is emblematic: the our seaa place of communication between peoples and civilizations, has become a cemetery. And the tragedy is that many, most of these dead, could have been saved. It must be said clearly: there are those who systematically work by all means to repel emigrants. And this, when done conscientiously and responsibly, is a serious sin.

Let us not forget what the Bible says: “You shall not mistreat or oppress the emigrant” (Ex 22:20). The orphan, the widow and the stranger are the poor par excellence whom God always defends and asks to defend.

Also some deserts, unfortunately, become cemeteries for migrants. Often, these are not “natural” deaths here either. No. Sometimes they take them to the desert and abandon them there. We all know the photo of Pato’s wife and daughter. Dying of hunger and thirst in the desert. In the age of satellites and drones, there are migrant men, women and children that no one should see. They hide them. Only God sees them and hears their cry. And this is a cruelty of our civilization.

In fact, the sea and the desert are also biblical places loaded with symbolic value. They are very important scenarios in the history of the exodus, the great migration of the people guided by God through Moses from Egypt to the Promised Land. These places are witnesses of the drama of the people fleeing oppression and slavery. They are places of suffering, of fear, of despair, but at the same time they are places of passage towards liberation, how many people pass through the seas and deserts to free themselves today, towards redemption, towards freedom and the fulfillment of the promises of God (cf. Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2024).

There is a psalm that, addressing the Lord, says: “You made your way through the waters, | a ford through the mighty waters, | and there was no trace of your footprints” (77,20). And another sings like this: “He led his people through the desert: | for his mercy is eternal” (136,16). These holy words tell us that, to accompany the people on the path to freedom, God himself crosses the sea and the desert; God does not remain at a distance, no, he shares the drama of the emigrants, he is there with them, he suffers with them, he cries and waits with them. He will do us good today. The Lord is with our migrants in the mare nostrum, the Lord is with them, not with those who reject them.

Brothers and sisters, we can all agree on one thing: in those deadly seas and deserts, today’s migrants should not be, but they are, unfortunately. But it is not through more restrictive laws, it is not through the militarization of borders, it is not through rejections that we will achieve it. On the contrary, we will achieve this by expanding safe and legal access routes for migrants, facilitating refuge for those fleeing war, violence, persecution and various calamities; We will achieve this by promoting by all means global governance of migration based on justice, fraternity and solidarity. And joining efforts to combat human trafficking, to stop criminal traffickers who mercilessly take advantage of the misery of others. Dear brothers and sisters, think about the many tragedies of migrants, how many die in the Mediterranean, think about Lampedusa, Crotone, how many ugly and sad things.

I would like to conclude by recognizing and praising the efforts of so many good Samaritans, who do everything possible to rescue and save injured and abandoned migrants on the routes of desperate hope, on the five continents. These brave men and women are a sign of a humanity that does not allow itself to be infected by the evil culture of indifference and discarding, which kills migrants. Our difference is the attitude of discarding, who cannot be with them on the front line, I think of so many brave people who are there on the front line, Mediterranean Saving Humansand many other associations. Those who cannot be like them “on the front line” are not excluded from this fight for civilization, we cannot be on the front line but we are not excluded, there are many ways to contribute, above all prayer. To you, I ask you: Do you pray for the migrants, for those who come to our land to save their lives or do you want to expel them?

Dear brothers and sisters, let us unite our hearts and our strength, so that the seas and deserts are not cemeteries, but spaces where God can open paths of freedom and fraternity.