Pope Francis Won’t Let The World Forget About the Plight of Migrants

One of the many things that continues to impress me about Pope Francis is his unwavering commitment to the plight of refugees and migrants.

In traveling to Cyprus, Francis “has sought to inspire the country, a European Union member state, to embrace its history as a crossroads for different cultures, enriched by new migrants, and to be a model for the rest of Europe,” the New York Times reported.

Francis arrived in Cyprus on Thursday, “beginning a five-day trip that would also bring him to Greece and its island of Lesbos, where in 2016 he made a defining visit to refugees living in horrid conditions and brought some back to Rome on his plane,” the Times noted. The trip “reflects his determination to maintain a global focus on the plight of migrants and lands torn by strife.”

In an address to participants at the 2021 Rome MED – Mediterranean Dialogues, Francis

The Pope said that the events of past years have shown that “effective intervention can only result from a combined effort” by not only the border countries but also the continents of which they are a part of. He added that the migration issue shows us that “everything is connected” and that any stable solution calls for “an approach capable of taking into account its multiple aspects.”

“No one should be left alone to manage this enormous problem,” the Pope said. “Everyone needs to feel responsible, for everyone is in fact responsible, as we are reminded by God’s question to Cain in the first pages of the Bible: “Where is your brother?”