'Free to choose whether to migrate or to stay.' This is Pope Francis' message for the 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees. In a press conference, the Vice President of the Italian Bishops' Conference explained why this theme is important today.
BP. FRANCESCO SAVINO
Vice President, Italian Bishops' Conference
This is a broken world. Yes, we live in a broken world. But we sense more than ever through the energy and witness of Pope Francis, what I like to call, the wind and the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Bishop Savino is also the bishop of Calabria. He explained that his diocese is decreasing in population each year. More young people leave than the number of migrants that arrive. On February 26 this year, however, the town of Cutro in Calabria made headlines after a devastating shipwreck that claimed the lives of 87 people.
BP. FRANCESCO SAVINO
Vice President, Italian Bishops' Conference
As a bishop from an inland and seemingly marginal area, on behalf of our entire country, I want to express my most heartfelt and profound gratitude because Pope Francis understands us and empathizes with those who are forced to have a different view of reality.
During the press conference, Dullal Ghoush also gave his testimony. He came from Bangladesh ten years ago and is a member of the Sophia Co-operative Society. This organization is involved with the project, “Education without borders,” in Senegal. They travel around the country helping young people so that, if they migrate, they do it in a free and educated way.
DULLAL GHOUSH
Sophia Cooperative Society
If you want to migrate to another country, what do you need? You need documents, to learn the language and a potential job, which are all very important.
The World Day of Migrants and Refugees will be celebrated on September 24. It was instituted by the Church in 1914 to express its closeness to people in search of a better future.
RM
TR: KG
