Pope’s message for 2019 World Day
of Migrants and Refugees: Full text
 |
| Pope Francis poses at a General Audience with migrants recently-arrived from Lybia (ANSA) |
Pope Francis releases his message for the 105th World Day of
Migrants and Refugees, which is commemorated on Sunday, September 29, 2019. The
full text of the message is below:
"It is not just about migrants"
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Faith assures us that in a mysterious way the Kingdom of God
is already present here on earth (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 39). Yet in
our own time, we are saddened to see the obstacles and opposition it
encounters. Violent conflicts and all-out wars continue to tear humanity apart;
injustices and discrimination follow one upon the other; economic and social
imbalances on a local or global scale prove difficult to overcome. And above
all it is the poorest of the poor and the most disadvantaged who pay the price.
The most economically advanced societies are witnessing a
growing trend towards extreme individualism which, combined with a utilitarian
mentality and reinforced by the media, is producing a “globalization of
indifference”. In this scenario, migrants, refugees, displaced persons and
victims of trafficking have become emblems of exclusion. In addition to the
hardships that their condition entails, they are often looked down upon and
considered the source of all society’s ills. That attitude is an alarm bell
warning of the moral decline we will face if we continue to give ground to the
throw-away culture. In fact, if it continues, anyone who does not fall within
the accepted norms of physical, mental and social well-being is at risk of
marginalization and exclusion.
For this reason, the presence of migrants and refugees – and
of vulnerable people in general – is an invitation to recover some of those
essential dimensions of our Christian existence and our humanity that risk
being overlooked in a prosperous society. That is why it is not just
about migrants. When we show concern for them, we also show concern for
ourselves, for everyone; in taking care of them, we all grow; in listening to
them, we also give voice to a part of ourselves that we may keep hidden because
it is not well regarded nowadays.
“Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” (Mt 14:27). It
is not just about migrants: it is also about our fears. The signs of
meanness we see around us heighten “our fear of ‘the other’, the unknown, the
marginalized, the foreigner... We see this today in particular, faced with the
arrival of migrants and refugees knocking on our door in search of protection,
security and a better future. To some extent, the fear is legitimate, also
because the preparation for this encounter is lacking” (Homily in Sacrofano,
15 February 2019). But the problem is not that we have doubts and fears. The
problem is when they condition our way of thinking and acting to the point of
making us intolerant, closed and perhaps even – without realizing it – racist.
In this way, fear deprives us of the desire and the ability to encounter the
other, the person different from myself; it deprives me of an opportunity to
encounter the Lord (cf. Homily at Mass for the World Day of Migrants
and Refugees, 14 January 2018).
“For if you love those who love you, what recompense will
you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same?” (Mt 5:46). It
is not just about migrants: it is about charity. Through works of charity,
we demonstrate our faith (cf. Jas 2:18). And the highest form
of charity is that shown to those unable to reciprocate and perhaps even to
thank us in return. “It is also about the face we want to give to our society
and about the value of each human life... The progress of our peoples...
depends above all on our openness to being touched and moved by those who knock
at our door. Their faces shatter and debunk all those false idols that can take
over and enslave our lives; idols that promise an illusory and momentary
happiness blind to the lives and sufferings of others” (Address at the
Diocesan Caritas of Rabat, 30 March 2019).
“But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with
compassion at the sight” (Lk 10:33). It is not just about
migrants: it is about our humanity. Compassion motivated that Samaritan –
for the Jews, a foreigner – not to pass by. Compassion is a feeling that cannot
be explained on a purely rational level. Compassion strikes the most sensitive
chords of our humanity, releasing a vibrant urge to “be a neighbour” to all
those whom we see in difficulty. As Jesus himself teaches us (cf. Mt9:35-36;
14:13-14; 15:32-37), being compassionate means recognizing the suffering of the
other and taking immediate action to soothe, heal and save. To be compassionate
means to make room for that tenderness which today’s society so often asks us
to repress. “Opening ourselves to others does not lead to impoverishment, but
rather enrichment, because it enables us to be more human: to recognize
ourselves as participants in a greater collectivity and to understand our life
as a gift for others; to see as the goal, not our own interests, but rather the
good of humanity” (Address at the Heydar Aliyev Mosque in Baku, 2 October
2016).
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I
say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly
Father” (Mt 18:10). It is not just about migrants: it is a
question of seeing that no one is excluded. Today’s world is increasingly
becoming more elitist and cruel towards the excluded. Developing countries
continue to be drained of their best natural and human resources for the
benefit of a few privileged markets. Wars only affect some regions of the world,
yet weapons of war are produced and sold in other regions which are then
unwilling to take in the refugees produced by these conflicts. Those who pay
the price are always the little ones, the poor, the most vulnerable, who are
prevented from sitting at the table and are left with the “crumbs” of the
banquet (cf. Lk 16:19-21). “The Church which ‘goes forth’...
can move forward, boldly take the initiative, go out to others, seek those who
have fallen away, stand at the crossroads and welcome the outcast” (Evangelii
Gaudium, 24). A development that excludes makes the rich richer and the
poor poorer. A real development, on the other hand, seeks to include all the
world’s men and women, to promote their integral growth, and to show concern
for coming generations.
“Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all” (Mk10:43-44). It
is not just about migrants: it is about putting the last in first place.
Jesus Christ asks us not to yield to the logic of the world, which justifies
injustice to others for my own gain or that of my group. “Me first, and then
the others!” Instead, the true motto of the Christian is, “The last shall be
first!” “An individualistic spirit is fertile soil for the growth of that kind
of indifference towards our neighbours which leads to viewing them in purely
economic terms, to a lack of concern for their humanity, and ultimately to
feelings of fear and cynicism. Are these not the attitudes we often adopt
towards the poor, the marginalized and the ‘least’ of society? And how many of
these ‘least’ do we have in our societies! Among them I think primarily of
migrants, with their burden of hardship and suffering, as they seek daily,
often in desperation, a place to live in peace and dignity” (Address to the
Diplomatic Corps, 11 January 2016). In the logic of the Gospel, the last
come first, and we must put ourselves at their service.
“I came so that they might have life and have it more
abundantly” (Jn 10:10). It is not just about migrants: it
is about the whole person, about all people. In Jesus’ words, we encounter
the very heart of his mission: to see that all receive the gift of life in its
fullness, according to the will of the Father. In every political activity, in
every programme, in every pastoral action we must always put the person at the
centre, in his or her many aspects, including the spiritual dimension. And this
applies to all people, whose fundamental equality must be recognized.
Consequently, “development cannot be restricted to economic growth alone. To be
authentic, it must be well-rounded; it must foster the development of each man
and of the whole man” (SAINT PAUL VI, Populorum Progressio, 14).
“So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you
are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God” (Eph 2:19). It
is not just about migrants: it is about building the city of God and man.
In our time, which can also be called the era of migration, many innocent
people fall victim to the “great deception” of limitless technological and
consumerist development (cf. Laudato Si’, 34). As a result, they
undertake a journey towards a “paradise” that inevitably betrays their
expectations. Their presence, at times uncomfortable, helps to debunk the myth
of a progress that benefits a few while built on the exploitation of many. “We
ourselves need to see, and then to enable others to see, that migrants and
refugees do not only represent a problem to be solved, but are brothers and
sisters to be welcomed, respected and loved. They are an occasion that
Providence gives us to help build a more just society, a more perfect
democracy, a more united country, a more fraternal world and a more open and
evangelical Christian community” (Message for the 2014 World Day of Migrants
and Refugees).
Dear brothers and sisters, our response to the challenges
posed by contemporary migration can be summed up in four verbs: welcome,
protect, promote and integrate. Yet these verbs do not apply only to migrants
and refugees. They describe the Church’s mission to all those living in the
existential peripheries, who need to be welcomed, protected, promoted and
integrated. If we put those four verbs into practice, we will help build the
city of God and man. We will promote the integral human development of all
people. We will also help the world community to come closer to the goals of
sustainable development that it has set for itself and that, lacking such an
approach, will prove difficult to achieve.
In a word, it is not only the cause of migrants that is at
stake; it is not just about them, but about all of us, and about the present
and future of the human family. Migrants, especially those who are most
vulnerable, help us to read the “signs of the times”. Through them, the Lord is
calling us to conversion, to be set free from exclusivity, indifference and the
throw-away culture. Through them, the Lord invites us to embrace fully our
Christian life and to contribute, each according to his or her proper vocation,
to the building up of a world that is more and more in accord with God’s plan.
In expressing this prayerful hope, and through the
intercession of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Way, I invoke God’s abundant
blessings upon all the world’s migrants and refugees and upon all those who
accompany them on their journey.
From the Vatican, 27 May 2019
FRANCIS
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