World’s Day of Migrants and Refugees (5)

World's Day of Migrants and Refugees (5)

IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT MIGRANTS… The 29th of September is World’s Day of Migrants and Refugees. An opportunity to change our hearts, our ways of thinking… and to enter into the logic of God. NOT JUST ABOUT THE MIGRANTS… IT’S ABOUT PUTTING THE LAST AND LEAST IN FIRST PLACE.

“On this sixth anniversary of the visit to Lampedusa, my thoughts go out to those “least ones” who daily cry out to the Lord, asking to be freed from the evils that afflict them. These least ones are abandoned and cheated into dying in the desert; these least ones are tortured, abused and violated in detention camps; these least ones face the waves of an unforgiving sea; these least ones are left in reception camps too long for them to be called temporary.

In the spirit of the Beatitudes we are called to comfort them in their affliction and offer them mercy; to sate their hunger and thirst for justice; to let them experience God’s caring fatherliness; to show them the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. They are persons; these are not mere social or migrant issues! This is not just about migrants.”

Pope Francis

The Church has been celebrating World’s Day of Migrants and Refugees ever since 1914. It is always an opportunity for her to express concern for the most vulnerable people, who have to move for one reason or another; it is also an opportunity to pray for the challenges of migration and to raise awareness of the opportunities it offers.

For 2019, Pope Francis has chosen the theme “It is not only about migrants” to help remove our blinders and to ensure that no one is excluded from society, whether they are long-term residents or newcomers.

Download here the full kit for Pastoral use.

Official website

IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT MIGRANTS