Rejecting migrants is a grave sin that we must avoid

Pope Francis said that in the face of the migration crisis, the solutions are not found in more restrictive laws or in the militarization of bordersand that rejecting migrants is a grave sin.

During his general audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis reflected on migrants and current migration routes, which for many people are fatal.

Rejecting migrants is a grave sin

The Mediterranean has become a cemetery and many lives that could have been saved have been lost. There are those who deliberately work to prevent the arrival of migrants, and this is a grave sin when done in full awareness and responsibility.

Unfortunately, some deserts have become graveyards for migrants, and sometimes they are taken to the desert and abandoned there, which are not natural deaths.

In the age of satellites and drones, there are migrants that no one sees. Only God sees them and hears their cry. He recalled the terrible photo of Fati and Marie, her only 6-year-old daughter, dead in the Tunisian desert.

“Brothers and sisters, we can all agree that migrants should not be in these deadly seas and deserts. But we will not achieve this through more restrictive laws, militarization of borders or rejections,” Francis stressed.

He advocated the expansion of “safe and legal access routes for migrants, facilitating asylum for those fleeing war, violence, persecution and various calamities.”

He advocated the expansion of “safe and legal access routes for migrants, facilitating asylum for those fleeing war, violence, persecution and various calamities.”

“We will achieve this by promoting by all means a global governance of migration based on justice, fraternity and solidarity. And by joining forces to combat human trafficking in order to stop criminal traffickers who mercilessly take advantage of the misery of others,” he said.

The Pope praised the efforts of good Samaritans who rescue and save injured and abandoned migrants on the routes of desperate hope, such as rescue NGOs in the Mediterranean, citing the Italian organisation ‘Mediterranea’.

“These brave men and women are a sign of a humanity that does not allow itself to be infected by the evil culture of indifference and discarding. And those who cannot be on the front line like them are not excluded from this fight for civilization: there are many ways to contribute, above all through prayer,” he said.

And he asked the faithful to join forces so that the seas and deserts are not cemeteries, but spaces where God can open paths of freedom and fraternity.

(With information from EFE)

Pope Francis emphasized in his catechesis that rejecting migrants is a grave sin.

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