9621 Agnes Crossing, Lake Suzanneview, New Mexico Island 84604-9295.
He Papa Francisco said migrants who risk drowning at sea “they need to be saved”explaining that it is the “duty of humanity” and that those who prevent it
He Papa Francisco said migrants who risk drowning at sea “they need to be saved”explaining that it is the “duty of humanity” and that those who prevent it are committing “gesture of hatred”
Francis, 86, spoke at an interfaith prayer service in front of a monument dedicated to those lost at sea.
Earlier, the city’s archbishop, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, a Frenchman born in Algeria, criticized politicians who prevent NGOs and their boats from rescuing drowning people.
“We cannot accept people being treated as currency. imprisoned and severely tortured“Francisco said. “We can no longer bear witness to the drama of shipwrecks caused by cruel shipping and the fanaticism of indifference.”
The pope added: “People who risk drowning when thrown into the waves must be rescued. This is the duty of humanity; This is the duty of civilization.”
Some NGOs have complained that governments have blocked some of their ships from leaving Mediterranean ports for reasons they consider unjustified. They also complained that their ships were forced dock at remote ports places where immigrant boats usually find themselves.
Aveline said that, having blocked the rescuers, “political institutions” are committing “such a serious crime” like the crimes of human traffickers. Moments later, Francis interrupted his formal speech to thank the groups rescuing migrants.
“A lot of times they won’t let you leave because, like, the boat is missing something, missing this, missing that. “These are gestures of hatred against brothers,” he said. “Thank you for everything they do.”
Neither the Pope nor Avelina named any Mediterranean government during the service, which had echoes of Francis’ first visit as pope in 2013 to Lampedusa, where he gave a speech. tribute to immigrants who died at sea and condemnation of the “globalization of indifference”.
The body of a migrant whose boat capsized into the sea after being taken from the Mediterranean Sea by the Libyan coast guard, in Gharaboli, Libya, April 25, 2023.
Some 178,500 migrants have reached Europe this year via the Mediterranean, and about 2,500 have died or gone missing along the way, according to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.
Some 133,000 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea this year, nearly double the number in the same period in 2022, according to government data.
Italian and Greek rescue efforts at sea have come under scrutiny following two major shipwrecks.
He the conservative government of Italy too criticized for restricting maritime activities immigrant rescue run by charities.
In February, a migrant boat leaving Turkey crashed into rocks near the southern Italian town of Cutro, killing at least 94 people. Although the boat was discovered by authorities, the coast guard was unable to intercept it.
In Greece, several survivors of a June 14 shipwreck that killed hundreds of migrants said their overcrowded fishing boat capsized after the coast guard failed to tow it away. Greek authorities deny the accusations.
The pope, who was received at Marseille airport by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and will meet President Emmanuel Macron twice on Saturday, traveled to conclude a meeting between young Catholics and bishops from the Mediterranean.
While Francis has often said the need to support migrants should be common to all 27 EU countries, his general openness towards victims, even calling their exclusion “scandalous, disgusting and sinful”, has irritated conservative politicians, especially in France. (Reuters)
Source: Aristegui Noticias
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