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Message of the Holy Father for the 107th World
Day of Migrants and Refugees 2021, 06.05.2021
The following is the text of the Holy Father
Francis’ Message for the 107th World Day of
Migrants and Refugees, which will be held on
Sunday 26 September 2021 on the theme: “Towards
an ever wider ‘we’”:
Message of His Holiness Pope Francis
for the 2021 World Day of Migrants and Refugees
TOWARDS AN EVER WIDER “WE”
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the Encyclical Fratelli Tutti, I expressed a
concern and a hope that remain uppermost in my
thoughts: “Once this health crisis passes, our
worst response would be to plunge even more
deeply into feverish consumerism and new forms
of egotistic self-preservation.
God willing, after all this, we will
think no longer in terms of ‘them’ and ‘those’,
but only ‘us’” (No. 35).
For this reason, I have wished to devote the
Message for this year’s World Day of Migrants
and Refugees to the theme, Towards An Ever Wider
“We”, in order to indicate a clear horizon for
our common journey in this world.
The history of this “we”
That horizon is already present in God’s
creative plan: “God created humankind in his
image, in the image of God he created them; male
and female he created them.
God blessed them, and God said to them,
‘Be fruitful and multiply’” (Gen 1:27-28).
God created us male and female, different
yet complementary, in order to form a “we”
destined to become ever more numerous in the
succession of generations.
God created us in his image, in the image
of his own triune being, a communion in
diversity.
When, in disobedience we turned away from God,
he in his mercy wished to offer us a path of
reconciliation, not as individuals but as a
people, a “we”, meant to embrace the entire
human family, without exception: “See, the home
of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them; they will be his
peoples, and God himself will be with them” (Rev
21:3).
Salvation history thus has a “we” in its
beginning and a “we” at its end, and at its
centre the mystery of Christ, who died and rose
so “that they may all be one” (Jn 17:21).
The present time, however, shows that
this “we” willed by God is broken and
fragmented, wounded and disfigured.
This becomes all the more evident in
moments of great crisis, as is the case with the
current pandemic.
Our “we”, both in the wider world and
within the Church, is crumbling and cracking due
to myopic and aggressive forms of nationalism
(cf. Fratelli Tutti, 11) and radical
individualism (cf. ibid., 105).
And the highest price is being paid by
those who most easily become viewed as others:
foreigners, migrants, the marginalized, those
living on the existential peripheries.
The truth however is that we are all in the same
boat and called to work together so that there
will be no more walls that separate us, no
longer others, but only a single “we”,
encompassing all of humanity.
Thus I would like to use this World Day
to address a twofold appeal, first to the
Catholic faithful and then all the men and women
of our world, to advance together towards an
ever wider “we”.
A Church that is more and more “catholic”
For the members of the Catholic Church, this
appeal entails a commitment to becoming ever
more faithful to our being “catholic”, as Saint
Paul reminded the community in Ephesus: “There
is one body and one Spirit, just as you were
called to the one hope of your calling, one
Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph 4:4-5).
Indeed the Church’s catholicity, her
universality, must be embraced and expressed in
every age, according to the will and grace of
the Lord who promised to be with us always,
until the end of the age (cf. Mt 28:20).
The Holy Spirit enables us to embrace
everyone, to build communion in diversity, to
unify differences without imposing a
depersonalized uniformity.
In encountering the diversity of
foreigners, migrants and refugees, and in the
intercultural dialogue that can emerge from this
encounter, we have an opportunity to grow as
Church and to enrich one another.
All the baptized, wherever they find
themselves, are by right members of both their
local ecclesial community and the one Church,
dwellers in one home and part of one family.
The Catholic faithful are called to work
together, each in the midst of his or her own
community, to make the Church become ever more
inclusive as she carries out the mission
entrusted to the Apostles by Jesus Christ: “As
you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of
heaven has come near.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse
the lepers, cast out demons.
You received without payment; give
without payment” (Mt 10:7-8).
In our day, the Church is called to go out into
the streets of every existential periphery in
order to heal wounds and to seek out the
straying, without prejudice or fear, without
proselytising, but ready to widen her tent to
embrace everyone.
Among those dwelling in those existential
peripheries, we find many migrants and refugees,
displaced persons and victims of trafficking, to
whom the Lord wants his love to be manifested
and his salvation preached.
“The current influx of migrants can be
seen as a new “frontier” for mission, a
privileged opportunity to proclaim Jesus Christ
and the Gospel message at home, and to bear
concrete witness to the Christian faith in a
spirit of charity and profound esteem for other
religious communities.
The encounter with migrants and refugees
of other denominations and religions represents
a fertile ground for the growth of open and
enriching ecumenical and interreligious
dialogue” (Address to the National Directors of
Pastoral Care for Migrants, 22 September 2017).
An ever more inclusive world
I also make this appeal to journey together
towards an ever wider “we” to all men and women,
for the sake of renewing the human family,
building together a future of justice and peace,
and ensuring that no one is left behind.
Our societies will have a “colourful” future,
enriched by diversity and by cultural exchanges.
Consequently, we must even now learn to
live together in harmony and peace.
I am always touched by the scene in the
Acts of the Apostles when, on the day of the
Church’s “baptism” at Pentecost, immediately
after the descent of the Holy Spirit, the people
of Jerusalem hear the proclamation of salvation:
“We… Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents
of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and
Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts
of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from
Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and
Arabs – in our own languages we hear them
speaking about God’s deeds of power” (2:9-11).
This is the ideal of the new Jerusalem (cf. Is
60; Rev 21:3), where all peoples are united in
peace and harmony, celebrating the goodness of
God and the wonders of creation.
To achieve this ideal, however, we must
make every effort to break down the walls that
separate us and, in acknowledging our profound
interconnection, build bridges that foster a
culture of encounter.
Today’s migration movements offer an
opportunity for us to overcome our fears and let
ourselves be enriched by the diversity of each
person’s gifts.
Then, if we so desire, we can transform
borders into privileged places of encounter,
where the miracle of an ever wider “we” can come
about.
I invite all men and women in our world to make
good use of the gifts that the Lord has
entrusted to us to preserve and make his
creation even more beautiful.
“A nobleman went to a distant country to
get royal power for himself and then return.
He summoned ten of his slaves, and gave
them ten pounds, and said to them, ‘Do business
with these until I come back’” (Lk 19:12-13).
The Lord will also demand of us an
account of our work!
In order to ensure the proper care of our
common home, we must become a “we” that is ever
wider and more co-responsible, in the profound
conviction that whatever good is done in our
world is done for present and future
generations.
Ours must be a personal and collective
commitment that cares for all our brothers and
sisters who continue to suffer, even as we work
towards a more sustainable, balanced and
inclusive development.
A commitment that makes no distinction
between natives and foreigners, between
residents and guests, since it is a matter of a
treasure we hold in common, from whose care and
benefits no one should be excluded.
The dream begins
The prophet Joel predicted that the messianic
future would be a time of dreams and visions
inspired by the Spirit: “I will pour out my
spirit on all flesh; your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall
dream dreams, and your young men shall see
visions” (Joel 2:28).
We are called to dream together,
fearlessly, as a single human family, as
companions on the same journey, as sons and
daughters of the same earth that is our common
home, sisters and brothers all (cf. Fratelli
Tutti, 8).
Prayer
Holy, beloved Father,
your Son Jesus taught us
that there is great rejoicing in heaven
whenever someone lost is found,
whenever someone excluded, rejected or discarded
is gathered into our “we”,
which thus becomes ever wider.
We ask you to grant the followers of Jesus,
and all people of good will,
the grace to do your will on earth.
Bless each act of welcome and outreach
that draws those in exile
into the “we” of community and of the Church,
so that our earth may truly become
what you yourself created it to be:
the common home of all our brothers and sisters.
Amen.
Rome, Saint John Lateran, 3 May 2021
Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles
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