Pope Francis announced that he was “postponing the usual catechesis,” given every Wednesday, to renew his plea in favour of welcoming migrants, “who – even at this moment – are crossing seas and deserts to reach a land where they can live in peace and safety,” he said.
This new appeal, made August 28 in St Peter’s Square, comes the day after the Italian Ministry of the Interior released statistics showing a 65% decrease in the number of illegal migrants entering the country compared to 2023 (40,138, down from 113,469 last year).
While the pope made no direct reference to these figures or the restrictive immigration policy pursued by Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, he strongly condemned “those who work systematically and with every means possible to repel migrants.” “This, when done with awareness and responsibility, is a grave sin,” said Francis, quoting a verse from the Book of Exodus (22:20): “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him.”