At start of Advent, pope prays for migrants

Pope Francis, following the recitation of the Angelus prayer on the First Sunday of Advent, prayed for the thousands of migrants who risk their lives every day as they embark upon journeys in search of a better life. 

Francis pointed out how many migrants are exposed to "very serious dangers", and how many lose their lives at our borders. "I feel sorrow at the news of the situation in which so many of them find themselves", the pope told pilgrims gathered in St Peter's Square November 28.

He mentioned the tragedy that occurred last week in the English Channel and the migrants on the borders of Belarus, many of whom are children, and to those who drown in the Mediterranean. 

He also spoke of the many migrants who in attempting to cross the Mediterranean are repatriated to North Africa, "captured by traffickers, who turn them into slaves: they sell the women, torture the men".

The pope prayed for all those who, also this week, "have tried to cross the Mediterranean seeking a land of well-being and finding there, instead, a grave". 

Pope Francis assured them of his prayers, and also his heart. "Let us think of the migrants, of their suffering, and let us pray in silence", he said.

Message to the International Organisation for Migration

The pope continued to highlight  migrants, when a day after the Angelus, in a message on the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the International Organisation for Migration, pointed out that behind every statistic on migration is the face of a brother or sister that needs to be protected.

He described the treatment of thousands of migrants around the world today as "deplorable", adding that says migrants across the world are treated as "merchandise", "pawns on the chessboard", and as being "victims of political rivalries".

The Holy See has for ten years been a member of the Geneva-based IOM, the main intergovernmental organization in the field of migration. 

The pope in his message, which was read by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, asks: "How can suffering and despair be exploited to advance or defend political agendas? How can political considerations prevail when the dignity of the human person is at stake?"  

He added that "The fundamental lack of human respect across national borders diminishes us all in our 'humanity'". 

In his message, Pope Francis called for a change of perspective of the migration phenomenon, noting that "it is not only a story of migrants but of inequalities, despair, environmental degradation, climate change; but also of dreams, courage, study abroad, family reunification, new opportunities, security, and hard but dignified work".

"The debate on migration is not really about migrants," Francis said. "It is rather about all of us, about the past, the present, and the future of our societies".

The "common temptation" of today is to "dismiss all that is troublesome", he said. 

Pope Francis urged people to not only look at what states do to welcome migrants, but also at "what benefits migrants bring to their host communities and how they enrich them".

On the one hand, in the markets of upper-middle-income countries, migrant labor is in great demand and welcomed as a way to compensate for labor shortages. On the other hand, migrants are often rejected and resented by many of their host communities.

Unfortunately, "this double standard stems from the predominance of economic interests over the needs and dignity of the human person", he said.

This is a tendency that was exacerbated during the "closures" for COVID-19, "when many of the 'essential' workers were migrants, but did not get the benefits of Covid's financial assistance programs or access to basic health care or Covid vaccinations", Francis said. 

Hence, there is an "urgent need to find dignified ways out of irregular situations", the pope said.

The more legal routes there are, the less likely it is that migrants will be drawn into the criminal networks of people traffickers or exploited and abused during their migration, he said.

Migrants "make visible the bond that unites the entire human family, the richness of cultures and the resource for developing the exchanges and trade networks that make up the diaspora communities" Francis said.

Francis also called on the international community to "urgently address the conditions that give rise to irregular migration, thus making migration a conscious choice rather than a desperate necessity".

Most people who can live decently in their countries of origin would not feel compelled to migrate irregularly, said the pope. 

"Let us not forget that these are not statistics, but real people whose lives are at stake", he added.