Thread: Pope wears refugee ID bracelet in appeal for help for migrants

Pope wears refugee ID bracelet in appeal for help for migrant

Sunday, 1 Oct 2017
7:36 PM MYT
by philip pullella


BOLOGNA, Italy (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday urged governments and people to do more to help migrants and not see them as enemies, wearing a plastic ID bracelet used by asylum seekers to drive home his message.

Francis visited a drab refugee centre on the outskirts of Bologna known simply as "The Hub". Run by a charity, it is home to about 1,000 asylum seekers, most of whom risked their lives crossing the Mediterranean from Africa and the Middle East.

There, they live in grey containers and other forms of temporary housing while awaiting decisions on their asylum requests to be moved to other towns in Italy.

Many of the refugees and migrants are without documents and all wear a plastic yellow bracelet. The pope wore one bearing his name and the number 3900003 on his right wrist. It was given to him by an African refugee.

"Many who don't know you are afraid of you," he told them as a light drizzle fell. "That makes them think they have the right to judge (you) coldly and harshly," he said.

He paid homage to those who "never arrived because they were eaten up by the desert or the sea".

Some 600,000 impoverished migrants and refugees have arrived in Italy in less than four years. In that time, more than 13,000 have died trying to cross the Mediterranean.

Francis, who has made defence of migrants and refugees a major plank of his papacy, also condemned internet trolling against foreigners, saying they had been subjected to "terrible phrases and insults."

"If we look on our neighbours without mercy we risk that even God will look on us without mercy," he said.

The pope's defence of migrants, his second in less than a week, comes at a time of growing anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States and many European countries where far-right parties have made inroads.

Last week, the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (Afd) party surged to third place in a national election, tapping into public disquiet over the arrival of more than a million migrants in Germany over the past two years.

Francis called on more governments to facilitate initiatives backed by the private sector and community groups to set up "humanitarian corridors for refugees in the most difficult situations."

This was a reference to programmes such as one run in Italy by the Rome-based Sant' Egidio peace community, which regularly brings into Italy refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria.

Italy's anti-immigrant Northern League, whose base is in the regions just north of Bologna, has vowed to clamp down on migration from developing countries if it forms part of a coalition government after next year's elections.

Pope wears refugee ID bracelet in appeal for help for migrants

Pope Francis Tells Migrants: ‘You Are Warriors of Hope’

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by THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, PH.D.1 Oct 2017

Pope Francis flew to Bologna, Italy, Sunday and met with a large group of migrants and refugees, calling them “warriors of hope” while insisting that nations open broader avenues for immigration.

During a full day in Bologna, Francis spent an hour meeting hundreds of migrants personally while posing with them for selfies under light drizzle. Later, the pontiff hosted a luncheon for asylum-seekers and prisoners in the St. Petronius basilica. He even donned a yellow plastic ID bracelet used by asylum-seekers to express his solidarity with them.

“Do you know what you are? You are ‘warriors of hope’!” Francis exclaimed during his address to the many migrants present, urging them not to give in to disappointment or despair.

In his address, the Pope also offered his explanation of why he believes some people in Europe oppose mass migration, building on earlier statements in which he suggested that xenophobia was fueling people’s concerns.

“Many do not know you and they are afraid,” he said. “This makes them feel entitled to judge harshly and coldly while thinking they see well. But this is not true. We see well only with the proximity that comes from mercy. Without this, the other remains a stranger, even an enemy, and cannot become my neighbor.”

The Pope suggested that immigration is an issue that can only be understood by meeting the people involved, rather than considering its causes and effects from afar.

“From a distance, we can say and think anything, as easily happens when terrible phrases and insults are written across the internet,” he said. “If we look upon our neighbor without mercy, we are unaware of his suffering, his problems.”

“Today all I see is a great desire for friendship and help,” the Pope continued. “I would like to thank the institutions and all the volunteers for the attention and commitment in taking care of those who are here.”

As he has done on other occasions, Francis recalled the words of the Gospel where Jesus Christ identified with the “least” among us.

“In you I see Jesus Christ, as with any stranger who knocks at our door, who identifies himself with the foreigner, of every age and condition, accepted or rejected,” he said.

Regarding concrete applications of his words, the Pope said it is “necessary for more countries to adopt private and community-based welcoming programs and to open humanitarian avenues for refugees in the most difficult situations, to avoid unbearable waiting periods and lost time.”

Last week, Pope Francis launched a two-year campaign to educate people about the plight of migrants and to provoke a “shift in thinking” toward them worldwide.

“Brothers, we mustn’t be afraid to share the journey! We mustn’t be afraid to share the hope!” Francis said in his weekly General Audience in Saint Peter’s Square, in which he inaugurated the new project, titled “Share the Journey.”

The campaign is being spearheaded by the global Catholic charities network Caritas Internationalis and aims at promoting awareness and action on behalf of migrants and refugees, assisting them in building connections with local communities.

In an address in the Vatican Saturday, Pope Francis seemed to ascribe people’s concerns with Europe’s migrant crisis to xenophobia, suggesting that a “culture of encounter” could remedy opposition to migration.

The Pope told members of the Association of National Italian Municipalities (ANCI) that he understands “the distress of many of your citizens in the face of the massive arrival of migrants and refugees.”

This distress, he continued, “finds its explanation in an innate fear of the ‘foreigner,’ a fear exacerbated by the wounds caused by the economic crisis, the unpreparedness of the local communities, and the inadequacy of many measures taken in an emergency atmosphere.”

“This discomfort can be overcome by offering meeting spaces and mutual knowledge,” the pope said Saturday. “Initiatives that promote a culture of encounter, mutual exchange of artistic and cultural riches and the knowledge of newcomers’ places and communities of origin are all welcome.”

Pope Francis Tells Migrants: 'You Are Warriors of Hope' - Breitbart

GOOD

I "HOPE" THEY TEAR DOWN THE VATICAN WALL AND TAKE OVER THE COMPOUND!

SET UP YOUR TENTS, TRASH THE PLACE AND "HOPE THE POPE" LETS YOU STAY!