Life

Reflect on the plight of 'the least', says Pope Francis

Pope Francis has affirmed that migration, refugees and arguing for the centrality of the family are among his priorities for the year ahead

Pope Francis delivers his message during his annual audience with diplomats at the Vatican on Monday January 11
Pope Francis delivers his message during his annual audience with diplomats at the Vatican on Monday January 11 Pope Francis delivers his message during his annual audience with diplomats at the Vatican on Monday January 11

POPE Francis has called for a bold and creative strategy to deal with global migration, insisting that Europe has the means to absorb refugees without sacrificing its security or culture.

In a speech on Monday to the Holy See's diplomatic corps, Francis lamented the distinction made by the international community between refugees fleeing persecution and those fleeing poverty.

He told the ambassadors, who represent their countries at the Vatican, to reflect on "the poor, the marginalised and the 'least' of society".

Speaking in the Sala Regia of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, he said human history has been marked by great waves of migration, and that humanity today must not let security fears replace the principle of respecting the dignity of others.

He called for dialogue to begin among the countries of migrants' origin, transit and reception "so that with greater boldness and creativity, new and sustainable solutions can be sought".

"Europe has the means to defend the centrality of the human person and to find the right balance between its twofold moral responsibility to protect the rights of its citizens and to ensure assistance and acceptance to migrants," he said.

Francis has made migration a top priority of his pontificate.

His first trip outside Rome as Pope was to the Italian island of Lampedusa, where he celebrated Mass in honour of the thousands of people who have died crossing the Mediterranean and denounced the "globalisation of indifference" that the world had shown to people fleeing their homes for better lives abroad.

On subsequent trips, Francis has visited refugee camps, while closer to home he has opened the Vatican's doors to two refugee families and called on parishes around the world to do the same.

Francis devoted nearly his entire speech to the issue, showing the importance it has in the Holy See's foreign policy under the first Latin American pope, who ministered to Paraguayan migrants in the slums of Buenos Aires before his election.

In his speech, Francis acknowledged fears about security in the wake of extremist attacks in Europe, Asia and elsewhere. But he said those fears should not result in Europe losing its values of solidarity and humanity.

"Human history is made up of countless migrations, sometimes out of an awareness of the right to choose freely, and often dictated by external circumstances," he said.

Today's migrants, he said, are "possessed of the same determination which Moses had to reach a land flowing with milk and honey".

Reflecting on the countries he visited last year, Francis noted how he had "reaffirmed the centrality of the family".

The family, he said, was "the first and most important school of mercy, in which we learn to see God's loving face and to mature and develop as human beings".

"Sadly, we recognise the numerous challenges presently facing families, threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life," he said.

"Today there is a widespread fear of the definitive commitment demanded by the family; those who pay the price are the young, who are often vulnerable and uncertain, and the elderly, who end up being neglected and abandoned."