ROME — Pope Francis returned to the issue of immigration Wednesday, urging European nations to imitate Malta in its welcoming attitude toward migrants.
“Malta is a key-place regarding the phenomenon of migration,” the pontiff said during his weekly general audience in the Vatican, adding that during his recent visit to the island nation he met “numerous migrants who landed on the island after terrible journeys.”
“We must never tire of listening to their testimonies because only this way can we emerge from a distorted vision that is often circulated in the mass media, and the faces, the stories, the wounds, the dreams and the hopes of these migrants can emerge,” he declared.
“Every migrant is unique,” he continued. “He or she is not a number but a person. Each is unique just like each one of us.”
As he has done on other occasions, the pope stressed that migrants should be welcomed because they are a source of immense benefits and not of problems.
“Every migrant is a person with dignity, with roots, with a culture,” he asserted. “Each of them is the bearer of a wealth infinitely greater than the problems they bring.”
“And let us not forget that Europe was made of migrations,” he added.
In his discourse, Francis acknowledged that the phenomenon of immigration must be “organized” and “supervised” and requires shared planning “at an international level.”
“The phenomenon of migration cannot be reduced to a crisis,” he insisted. It is rather “a sign of our times” and “should be read and interpreted as such.”
“It can become a sign of conflict, or rather a sign of peace. It depends on how we take it; it depends on us,” he declared.
The entire nation of Malta is a “laboratory for peace,” Francis exclaimed, drawing “the sap of fraternity, compassion and solidarity from its roots.”