The Pope called for action on immigration: “The mare nostrum is becoming a mare mortuum”

2023-09-23 21:43:08

The Pope visited Marseille this Saturday, September 23France, and before a crowd he called for actions to address migrations and prevent the Mediterranean, where thousands of people have drowned due to immigration, from becoming “tomb of dignity.”

The Holy Father gave a long speech with which he concluded a Church conference on the French port that for centuries was a crossroads of cultures and religions. “There is a cry of pain that is the loudest of all, and that is turning our sea into a dead sea the Mediterranean from the cradle of civilization to the tomb of dignity: it is the muffled cry of the migrant brothers and sisters,” he said, using Latin terms that mean “our sea” and “sea of ​​death.”

The Pope was received by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Francis called for “a large number of legal and regular entries” of immigrants who flee war, hunger and poverty without evaluating their well-being.

The migration numbers

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Some 178,500 migrants arrived in Europe across the Mediterranean this year, while some 2,500 died or went missing.. At the same time, the governments of several European countries, such as Italy, Hungary and Poland, have governments with an openly anti-immigration position.

Tribute from Olympique de Marseille fans to Pope Francis.

The Pope asked that “screams of pain rising from North Africa and the Middle East” can be heard. “How much need we have for this in the current situation, when antiquated and belligerent nationalisms want to make the dream of the community of nations disappear!” he stressed without naming any country.

Upon arriving in France, the Supreme Pontiff was received by President Emmanuel Macron at the port where the conference center is located, with whom he will hold a private meeting before returning to Rome.

Francis began his visit at a center for the needy in the Marseille neighborhood of Saint Maurasone of the poorest in France, which is managed by the order of nuns founded by Saint Mother Teresa.

His 27-hour trip was focused on immigration issues. On Friday he said that migrants at risk of drowning at sea “must be rescued” because doing so is “a duty of humanity” and that those who prevent rescues commit “a gesture of hate.”

RB / Dog