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Message of the Holy Father Francis for the 106th
World Day of Migrants and Refugees, 15.05.2020
The following is the text of the message of the
Holy Father Francis for the 106th World Day of
Migrants and Refugees, to be held on Sunday 27
September 2020, on the theme: “Like Jesus,
forced to flee. Welcoming, protecting, promoting
and integrating internally displaced persons”.
Message of the Holy Father
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
for the 106th World Day of Migrants and Refugees
27 September 2020
Like Jesus Christ, forced to flee.
Welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating
internally displaced persons.
At the beginning of this year, in my Address to
the members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited
to the Holy See, I pointed to the tragedy of
internally displaced people as one of the
challenges of our contemporary world:
“Situations of conflict and humanitarian
emergencies, aggravated by climate change, are
increasing the numbers of displaced persons and
affecting people already living in a state of
dire poverty. Many of the countries experiencing
these situations lack adequate structures for
meeting the needs of the displaced” (9 January
2020).
The Migrants and Refugees Section of the
Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human
Development has issued the document “Pastoral
Orientations on Internally Displaced People”
(Vatican City, 5 May 2020), which aims to
inspire and encourage the pastoral work of the
Church in this specific area.
For these reasons, I have decided to devote this
Message to the drama of internally displaced
persons, an often unseen tragedy that the global
crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has only
exacerbated. In fact, due to its virulence,
severity and geographical extent, this crisis
has impacted on many other humanitarian
emergencies that affect millions of people,
which has relegated to the bottom of national
political agendas those urgent international
efforts essential to saving lives. But “this is
not a time for forgetfulness. The crisis we are
facing should not make us forget the many other
crises that bring suffering to so many people”
(Urbi et Orbi Message, 12 April 2020).
In the light of the tragic events that have
marked 2020, I would like this Message, although
concerned with internally displaced persons, to
embrace all those who are experiencing
situations of precariousness, abandonment,
marginalisation and rejection as a result of
COVID-19.
I would like to start with the image that
inspired Pope Pius XII in his Apostolic
Constitution Exsul Familia (1 August 1952).
During the flight into Egypt, the child Jesus
experienced with his parents the tragic fate of
the displaced and refugees, “which is marked by
fear, uncertainty and unease (cf. Mt 2:13-15,
19-23). Unfortunately, in our own times,
millions of families can identify with this sad
reality. Almost every day the television and
papers carry news of refugees fleeing from
hunger, war and other grave dangers, in search
of security and a dignified life for themselves
and for their families” (Angelus, 29 December
2013). In each of these people, forced to flee
to safety, Jesus is present as he was at the
time of Herod. In the faces of the hungry, the
thirsty, the naked, the sick, strangers and
prisoners, we are called to see the face of
Christ who pleads with us to help (cf. Mt
25:31-46). If we can recognise him in those
faces, we will be the ones to thank him for
having been able to meet, love and serve him in
them.
Displaced people offer us this opportunity to
meet the Lord, “even though our eyes find it
hard to recognize him: his clothing in tatters,
his feet dirty, his face disfigured, his body
wounded, his tongue unable to speak our
language” (Homily, 15 February 2019). We are
called to respond to this pastoral challenge
with the four verbs I indicated in my Message
for this Day in 2018: welcome, protect, promote
and integrate. To these words, I would now like
to add another six pairs of verbs that deal with
very practical actions and are linked together
in a relationship of cause and effect.
You have to know in order to understand.
Knowledge is a necessary step towards
understanding others. Jesus himself tells us
this in the account of the disciples on the road
to Emmaus: “While they were talking and
discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and
went with them, but their eyes were kept from
recognising him” (Lk 24:15-16). When we talk
about migrants and displaced persons, all too
often we stop at statistics. But it is not about
statistics, it is about real people! If we
encounter them, we will get to know more about
them. And knowing their stories, we will be able
to understand them. We will be able to
understand, for example, that the precariousness
that we have come to experience as a result of
this pandemic is a constant in the lives of
displaced people.
It is necessary to be close in order to serve.
It may seem obvious, yet often it is the
contrary. “But a Samaritan, as he journeyed,
came to where the man was; and when he saw him,
he had compassion, and went to him and bound up
his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set
him on his own beast and brought him to an inn,
and took care of him” (Lk 10:33-34). Fears and
prejudices – all too many prejudices – keep us
distant from others and often prevent us from
“becoming neighbours” to them and serving them
with love. Drawing close to others often means
being willing to take risks, as so many doctors
and nurses have taught us in recent months. This
readiness to draw near and serve goes beyond a
mere sense of duty. Jesus gave us the greatest
example of this when he washed the feet of his
disciples: he took off his cloak, knelt down and
dirtied his hands (cf. Jn 13:1-15).
In order to be reconciled, we need to listen.
God himself taught us this by sending his Son
into the world. He wanted to listen to the plea
of suffering humanity with human ears: “For God
so loved the world that he gave his
only-begotten Son… that the world might be saved
through him” (Jn 3:16-17). A love that
reconciles and saves begins with listening. In
today’s world, messages multiply but the
practice of listening is being lost. Yet it is
only through humble and attentive listening that
we can truly be reconciled. In 2020, silence has
reigned for weeks in our streets. A dramatic and
troubling silence, but one that has given us the
opportunity to listen to the plea of the
vulnerable, the displaced and our seriously ill
planet. Listening gives us an opportunity to be
reconciled with our neighbour, with all those
who have been “discarded”, with ourselves and
with God, who never tires of offering us his
mercy.
In order to grow, it is necessary to share.
Sharing was an essential element of the first
Christian community: “Now the company of those
who believed were of one heart and soul, and no
one said that any of the things which he
possessed was his own, but they had everything
in common” (Acts 4:32). God did not want the
resources of our planet to benefit only a few.
This was not the Lord’s will! We have to learn
to share in order to grow together, leaving no
one behind. The pandemic has reminded us how we
are all in the same boat. Realising that we have
the same concerns and fears has shown us once
more that no one can be saved alone. To grow
truly, we must grow together, sharing what we
have, like the boy who offered Jesus five barley
loaves and two fish… yet they proved enough for
five thousand people (cf. Jn 6:1-15)!
We need to be involved in order to promote. As
Jesus was with the Samaritan woman (cf. Jn
4:1-30). The Lord approaches her, listens to
her, speaks to her heart, and then leads her to
the truth and makes her a herald of the Good
News: “Come, see a man who told me all that I
ever did! Can this be the Christ?” (v. 29).
Sometimes the impulse to serve others prevents
us from seeing their real riches. If we really
want to promote those whom we assist, we must
involve them and make them agents in their own
redemption. The pandemic has reminded us of how
essential co-responsibility is, and that only
with the contribution of everyone – even of
those groups so often underestimated – can we
face this crisis. We must find “the courage to
create spaces where everyone can recognise that
they are called, and to allow new forms of
hospitality, fraternity and solidarity”
(Meditation in Saint Peter’s Square, 27 March
2020).
It is necessary to cooperate in order to build.
That is what the Apostle Paul tells the
community of Corinth: “I appeal to you,
brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that all of you agree and that there be no
dissensions among you, but that you be united in
the same mind and the same judgement” (1 Cor
1:10). Building the Kingdom of God is a duty
common to all Christians, and for this reason it
is necessary that we learn to cooperate, without
yielding to the temptation to jealousy, discord
and division. In the present context it should
be reiterated: “This is not a time for self-centredness,
because the challenge we are facing is shared by
all, without distinguishing between persons” (Urbi
et Orbi Message, 12 April 2020). To preserve our
common home and make it conform more and more to
God’s original plan, we must commit ourselves to
ensuring international cooperation, global
solidarity and local commitment, leaving no one
excluded.
I would like to conclude with a prayer suggested
by the example of Saint Joseph at the time he
was forced to flee to Egypt to save the child
Jesus.
Father, you entrusted to Saint Joseph what you
held most precious: the child Jesus and his
Mother, in order to protect them from the
dangers and threats of the wicked.
Grant that we may experience his protection and
help. May he, who shared in the sufferings of
those who flee from the hatred of the powerful,
console and protect all our brothers and sisters
driven by war, poverty and necessity to leave
their homes and their lands to set out as
refugees for safer places.
Help them, through the intercession of Saint
Joseph, to find the strength to persevere, give
them comfort in sorrows and courage amid their
trials.
Grant to those who welcome them some of the
tender love of this just and wise father, who
loved Jesus as a true son and sustained Mary at
every step of the way.
May he, who earned his bread by the work of his
hands, watch over those who have seen everything
in life taken away and obtain for them the
dignity of a job and the serenity of a home.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son, whom
Saint Joseph saved by fleeing to Egypt, and
trusting in the intercession of the Virgin Mary,
whom he loved as a faithful husband in
accordance with your will. Amen.
Rome, Saint John Lateran, 13 May 2020, Memorial
of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Fatima.
FRANCIS
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