SENT TO LESBOS. «We overcome the paralysis of fear, the indifference that kills, the cynical disinterest that with velvet gloves condemns those on the margins to death. Please, let us stop this shipwreck of civilization! ». Pope Francis, arriving by plane from Athens, arrives in Lesbos, and from the Reception and Identification Center launches a cry for help for the island’s refugees and for desperate migrants from all over the world. “We find the courage to be ashamed in front of the faces of children,” he exclaims.
Bergoglio is here for the second time after the previous one on April 16, 2016. Entering the camp, he walks to the place of the ceremony, entertaining himself along the way with the refugees waiting for him, caressing in particular the many children, often very young , shaking hands, dispensing smiles, greetings and words of comfort and encouragement. He also stops to listen to the stories and invocations of some of the refugees, from the most diverse origins, from Asia, to the Middle East, to Africa.
The Pontiff, welcomed by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou, and by the ordinary of the diocese, Archbishop Josif Printezis, is in the area equipped for the reception of refugees which has replaced the refugee camp of «Moria», the largest in the world. ‘Europe until September 2020 when it was completely destroyed by fire. It was in Moira that the Pope had been 5 years ago. In the meantime, refugees have in the meantime been partly relocated or transferred to other Aegean islands, and in the Mytilene camp, nicknamed by the Greeks “Moria 2.0”, there are now a few thousand, with numbers ranging between 2,000-2,500 and over 4,000-4,200. According to Caritas, 2,200 people currently reside in the barracks, tents and containers. The origins range from the conflict zones of Asia and the Middle East to those of Africa. Waits for asylum permits in Europe are very long. Many families with children even at a very tender age.
The ceremonial includes an opening song, then the bishop’s greeting, the testimony of a refugee and that of a volunteer. The Pontiff’s speech is therefore foreseen, followed by the delivery of a gift from the children to Francis.
«Dear brothers and sisters», Francis begins, «thank you for your words. Sisters, brothers, I am here again to meet you. I am here to tell you that I am close to you. I’m here to see your faces, to look you in the eye. Eyes full of fear and expectation, eyes that have seen violence and poverty, eyes furrowed by too many tears. The Ecumenical Patriarch and dear Brother Bartholomew, five years ago on this island, said something that struck me: “Whoever is afraid of you has not looked you in the eye. Those who are afraid of you have not seen your faces. Those who are afraid of you do not see your children. Forget that dignity and freedom transcend fear and division. Forget that migration is not a problem in the Middle East and North Africa, Europe and Greece. It is a problem of the world ”».
According to the Bishop of Rome, “yes, it is a problem of the world, a humanitarian crisis that affects everyone. The pandemic has affected us globally, it has made us all feel in the same boat, it has made us feel what it means to have the same fears. We understand that the big issues must be faced together, because in today’s world, fragmented solutions are inadequate. But while vaccinations are being laboriously carried out on a planetary level and something, despite many delays and uncertainties, seems to be moving in the fight against climate change, everything seems to be terribly in hiding as far as migration is concerned “. Yet there are “people, human lives!” Everyone’s future is at stake, which will only be peaceful if integrated. Only if reconciled with the weakest will the future be prosperous. Because when the poor are rejected, peace is rejected. Closures and nationalisms – history teaches us – lead to disastrous consequences ». In fact, as recalled by “the Second Vatican Council,” the firm will to respect other men and other peoples and their dignity, and the assiduous practice of human brotherhood are absolutely necessary for the construction of peace “(Gaudium et spes , 78) “. For Bergoglio it is “an illusion to think that it is enough to safeguard oneself, defending oneself from the weakest who knock on the door. The future will put us even more in contact with each other ». To turn it to the good “we don’t need unilateral actions, but far-reaching policies. History, I repeat, teaches it, but we have not yet learned it. Do not turn their backs on reality, stop the continuous rebound of responsibility, do not always delegate the migration issue to others, as if no one cared and it was just a useless burden that someone is forced to shoulder! “.
Francis continues: «Sisters, brothers, your faces, your eyes ask us not to turn away, not to deny the humanity that unites us, to make your stories our own and not to forget your tragedies. Elie Wiesel, witness of the greatest tragedy of the past century, wrote: “It is because I remember our common origin that I draw close to my brothers men. It’s because I refuse to forget that their future is as important as mine “.” On this Sunday, the Pontiff prays to God “to awaken us from forgetfulness for those who suffer, to shake us from the individualism that excludes, to awaken hearts deaf to the needs of others. And I also pray to man, every man: let us overcome the paralysis of fear, the indifference that kills, the cynical disinterest that condemns those on the margins to death with velvet gloves! ». The Pope exhorts us to oppose at the root “the dominant thought, that which revolves around one’s self, one’s personal and national egoisms, which become the measure and criterion of everything”.
Five years have passed since the visit «made here with dear Brothers Bartolomeo and Ieronymos. After all this time, we see that little has changed on the migration issue. Of course, many have committed themselves to welcoming and integrating, and I would like to thank the many volunteers and all those at every level – institutional, social, charitable – have undertaken great efforts, taking care of people and the migration issue. I recognize the commitment to finance and build worthy reception facilities and I sincerely thank the local population for the great good they have done and the many sacrifices they have tried. But we must bitterly admit that this country, like others, is still under pressure and that in Europe there are those who persist in treating the problem as a business that does not concern them ». The Pope highlights «how many conditions unworthy of man! How many hotspots where migrants and refugees live in conditions that are at the limit, without glimpsing solutions on the horizon! Yet respect for people and human rights, especially in the continent that does not fail to promote them in the world, should always be safeguarded, and the dignity of each one should be given priority over everything! It is sad to hear, as solutions, the use of mutual funds to build walls. Of course – Francis observes – we understand fears and insecurities, difficulties and dangers. Fatigue and frustration are felt, exacerbated by the economic and pandemic crises, but it is not by raising barriers that problems are solved and coexistence improved “. Instead, it is “by joining forces to take care of others according to the real possibilities of each and in compliance with the law, always putting the irrepressible value of the life of every man in the first place”. Francis still quotes «Elie Wiesel:“ When human lives are in danger, when human dignity is in danger, national borders become irrelevant ”».
In various societies, security and solidarity, local and universal, tradition and openness, are ideologically opposed. Rather than siding with ideas, it can be helpful to start from reality: to stop, to broaden our gaze, to immerse it in the problems of the majority of humanity, of many populations victims of humanitarian emergencies that have not created but only immediately, often after long stories of exploitation still in progress “. The Pontiff denounces: «It is easy to drag public opinion by instilling the fear of the other; why, on the other hand, with the same attitude, do we not speak of the exploitation of the poor, of the forgotten and often lavishly financed wars, of the economic agreements made on the skin of the people, of the hidden maneuvers to smuggle arms and make their trade proliferate? The remote causes must be addressed, not the poor people who pay the consequences, even being used for political propaganda! ». To remove the root causes, it is not possible to «just stop the emergencies. Concerted action is needed. Epochal changes need to be approached with greatness of vision. Because there are no easy answers to complex problems; instead there is the need to accompany the processes from within, to overcome ghettoization and favor a slow and indispensable integration, to welcome the cultures and traditions of others in a fraternal and responsible way “.
Above all, if «we want to leave again, let’s look at the faces of the children. We find the courage to be ashamed of them, who are innocent and are the future. They question our consciences and ask us: “What world do you want to give us?” Let’s not rush away from the crude images of their little bodies lying inert on the beaches ». The Mediterranean, which for millennia “has united different peoples and distant lands, is becoming a cold cemetery without tombstones. This large basin of water, the cradle of many civilizations, now looks like a mirror of death. Let us not let the mare nostrum turn into a desolating mare mortuum, let this meeting place become the theater of confrontation! Let’s not allow this “sea of memories” to turn into the “sea of forgetfulness”. Please, let us stop this shipwreck of civilization! ».
On the shores of this sea «God became man. He loves us as children and wants us as brothers. Instead, God is offended, despising man created in his image, leaving him at the mercy of the waves, in the lapping of indifference, sometimes justified even in the name of alleged Christian values. Faith, on the other hand, asks for compassion and mercy. He exhorts to hospitality, to that philoxenia that has permeated classical culture, then finding its definitive manifestation in Jesus, especially in the parable of the Good Samaritan and in the words of chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew ”. It is not a “religious ideology, they are concrete Christian roots. Jesus solemnly affirms that he is there, in the stranger, in the refugee, in the naked and hungry. And the Christian program is to be where Jesus is. Yes, because the Christian program, Pope Benedict wrote, “is a heart that sees” ».
The Pope invites us to pray “to Our Lady, so that she may open our eyes to the suffering of the brothers. She quickly set off on her way to her cousin Elizabeth who was pregnant. How many pregnant mothers have found death in a hurry and on a journey while carrying life in their womb! May the Mother of God help us to have a maternal gaze, which sees in men children of God, sisters and brothers to welcome, protect, promote and integrate. And love tenderly. May the Tuttasanta teach us to put the reality of man before ideas and ideologies, and to take quick steps towards those who suffer ».
After the recitation of the Sunday Angelus, the Pope stops again with some refugees and immediately visits their homes.