Pope Francis celebrates Mass to mark Migrant and Refugee World Day on Sunday.The Associated Press
Pope Francis on Sunday decried “the culture of comfort” that leads to indifference in the face of a global migration and refugee crisis.
The Pope who has made caring for migrants a hallmark of his papacy spoke during a Mass for the World Day for Migrants and Refugees.
“We cannot be indifferent to the tragedy of old and new forms of poverty, to the bleak isolation, contempt and discrimination experienced by those who do not belong to ‘our group,’ ” Francis said. “We cannot remain insensitive, our hearts deadened, before the misery of so many innocent people. We must not fail to weep. We must not fail to respond.”
The pontiff has often spoken of the need to be welcoming to migrants, travelling to the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2013 on his first trip as pope to comfort refugees. His message found political resistance in Italy’s previous populist government, during which the former hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, campaigned to prevent the arrival in Italy of migrants rescued at sea by humanitarian groups.
During his homily Sunday, the Pope also said the weapons that fuel wars are often produced and sold in other regions “which are then unwilling to take in the refugees generated by these conflicts.”
Many migrants and refugees from conflicts throughout the world attended the Mass in St. Peter’s Square, which closed with the unveiling of a bronze statue by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz depicting migrants packed on a boat.
“This statue depicts a group of migrants from various cultures and over different historic periods. I wanted this artistic work here in St. Peter’s Square to remind everyone of the evangelical challenge of hospitality,” Francis said.
Mr. Schmalz, who travelled to the Vatican City for the unveiling, said it was amazing that the sculpture, called Angels Unawares, was in the square as a visual reminder that everyone is welcome.
It was inspired by a Bible passage and includes a pair of angel wings rising from among the crowd on a boat.
“The idea is spiritually centred, with the angel wings in the centre,” he said. “It brings the idea that we are sacred and we are all, in a sense, worthy of human dignity and respect.”
Mr. Schmalz said it was an important message to spread as people become more fearful of strangers and isolated by technology.
“What’s happening is a disconnect towards humanity. What’s happening with this is a fear of the other, big time.”
Mr. Schmalz, who described himself as a “hardcore Christian,” said he got the commission after the Vatican learned of his sculpture depicting Jesus as a homeless person, copies of which are now touring in major cities around the world.
The sculpture for St. Peter’s Square was the culmination of well over a year of “obsessive work, obsessive sculpting,” with 140 people depicted in the piece, he said.
Mr. Schmalz said that while he and Francis did not speak the same language, the Pope still gave him a message.
“He looked at me and he put his hands on his heart, and that was more than an artist could possibly hope for.”
During the Mass, a multiethnic chorus sang and the incense burned came from a refugee camp in southern Ethiopia, where refugees are rekindling a 600-year-old tradition of collecting incense. The Vatican said the incense “reminds us that refugees can also thrive, not just survive.”
With files from The Canadian Press