Pope: Expelling migrants is a ‘grave sin’

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Keeping migrants away from the prospect of peace and security in a new land is “a grave sin,” Pope Francis said.

“It must be said clearly: there are people who systematically and by all possible means try to drive away migrants, and this, when done consciously and deliberately, is a grave sin,” he said during his general audience on August 28.

The pope began his audience in St. Peter’s Square by explaining that he would postpone “the usual catechesis” — he is currently in the middle of a series of talks on the Holy Spirit — to talk about “the people who — even at this moment — are crossing seas and deserts to reach a land where they can live in peace and security.”

Pope Francis gives his blessing to visitors and pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square at the end of his weekly general audience at the Vatican on Aug. 28, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

“Brothers and sisters, we can all agree on one thing: migrants do not belong in those seas and in those deadly deserts,” he said. “And unfortunately, they are there.”

But migrants cannot be deterred from those deadly crossings “by stricter laws, nor by the militarization of borders, nor by rejections,” the pope said. “Instead, we will achieve it by expanding safe and legal avenues for migrants, by offering refuge to those fleeing wars, violence, persecution and many calamities; we will achieve it by promoting in every way a global governance of migration based on justice, fraternity and solidarity.”

Everyone, he added, must join hands “to combat human trafficking” and “stop the criminal traffickers who mercilessly exploit the misery of others.”

“What kills migrants is our indifference and that attitude of rejection,” he said, and while praising the many “good Samaritans” and organizations that support migrants, he noted that ordinary people must also be involved in alleviating the misery of migration.

“We cannot be on the front lines, but we are not excluded; there are many ways to contribute, first of all prayer,” the Pope said, directly asking visitors to the square: “Do you pray for migrants? For those who come to our country to save their lives?”

Pope Francis followed a meaningful silence as he put his question to the audience.

The pope specifically mentioned Mediterranea Saving Humans — an Italian NGO that rescues migrants crossing the Mediterranean — as a group “on the front lines” of the migrant crisis. The group posted a message on social media on August 24 saying that the pope had blessed the crew of a ship that was sailing on a rescue mission in the Mediterranean, organized with the migration office of the Italian bishops’ conference.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, 4,110 people died or went missing while crossing the Mediterranean in 2023.

Regarding the deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean, the Pope said that “the tragedy is that many, the majority of these deaths, could have been prevented.”

Pope Francis reflected on the seas and deserts that migrants often cross to reach their destination, noting that such areas, according to the Bible, “are places of suffering, fear and despair, but at the same time places of passage to liberation, redemption, the attainment of freedom and the fulfillment of God’s promises.”

Yet the Mediterranean Sea and the deserts, plains, forests and jungles that migrants cross in search of a better life have become “migrant cemeteries,” the pope said. “And even here, these are often not ‘natural’ deaths, no. Sometimes they have been taken to the desert and abandoned.”

But, Pope Francis said, “to accompany people on their journey towards freedom, God himself crosses the sea and the desert.”

“God does not remain at a distance, no. He shares in the drama of the migrants, God is there with them, with the migrants,” he said. “He suffers with them, with the migrants, he cries and hopes with them.”