Migration has been a recurring theme in Francis' pontificate. But it's not all talk. The has made three concrete gestures towards them.
When the Pope traveled to Lesbos in 2016, he returned to Rome with 12 people—the majority of them children. It was a group of three Syrian families, who had lost everything in the war.
Together with the Community of Sant'Egidio, the Vatican arranged for their upkeep and accommodation.
In 2021, Pope Francis returned to this Greek island, where he met this family. They were living in a refugee camp. Days later, they moved to Rome so the little boy could have surgery at the Bambino Gesù—a story that the Pope closely followed.
-When is the surgery?
Today we're going to the Bambino Gesù Hospital. Right now.
-And the surgery?
…the 27th.
-I am praying for you.
And on another occasion, the Vatican hired Pato, a migrant from Cameroon, as a guard at the Museums. His story is moving. His wife and six-year-old daughter died of thirst crossing the desert. Only he managed to survive and thanks to an NGO, Pope Francis shared Pato's story.
And in 2015, the Pope made another gesture. During an Angelus, he made the following request to parish priests around the world.
POPE FRANCIS
May every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every shrine of Europe welcome one family.
And Pope Francis continues to keep the migratory situation in the spotlight. In fact, he postponed his weekly catechesis on Wednesday to make a blunt reflection, saying: “Systematically repelling immigrants is a grave sin.”
CA
TR: KG
