During official visit to Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Pope Francis said: “Stable employment, along with a policy actively committed to favouring the family, the first and primary place in which the person-in-relations is formed, are the condition for authentic sustainable development and harmonious growth of society. They are pillars that support the common home and strengthen it to face the future with a spirit that is not resigned or fearful, but creative and confident.
“With regard to the complex migratory phenomenon, it is clear that the full burden cannot be faced by a few nations, ensuring an orderly integration of new arrivals in their own social fabric,” he continued. “For this reason, it is essential and urgent that extensive and incisive international cooperation be developed.”
Migrants are not numbers
In a message to the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament meeting in Panama, Pope Francis said: “Behind every emigrant there is a human being with a history, a culture and ideals. Aseptic analysis produces sterile measurements; on the other hand, a relationship with a person in the flesh helps us to perceive the deep scars that he carries with him, caused by the reason, or the unreason, of his migration.”
Mexican bishops appeal to help Venezuelan poor
The bishops of Mexico appealed to all Mexicans to help in the best way they can the people of Venezuela who are passing through a “humanitarian catastrophe”.
The bishops said that “this unprecedented crisis in Venezuela” is becoming progressively worse and that as a result, people do not have enough food and medical supplies. Children and the poor are most vulnerable, they note, adding that today there are three times more malnourished people as there were two years ago.
Sri Lanka: violence against Christians
Since 2015 the number of incidents of violence against Christians in Sri Lanka has gone up to 190; twenty have happened this year to date, according to the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka.
The National Peace Council reacted to this news by stating that “the failure of the police to protect people subjected to violence is an abdication of the government’s duty to protect citizens equally”.
It added: “The rise in verbal and physical violence has been accompanied by public statements that Sri Lanka is a Sinhalese and Buddhist country, with the implication that ethnic and religious minorities have a lesser place.”
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)