"I am sure that this inspiration was God's providence," she said, because soon after she went to a parish in Santiago and a priest there invited her to be the director of the center for integration of migrants that they were launching.
She has now worked there since 2000, helping to provide various services to migrants including healthcare, food, professional formation and psychological and religious support. In the past 17 years, the woman said more than 70,000 women have come to Chile as migrants to rebuild their lives, with more than half passing through the center she directs.
The third family was Italian, but has lived in Canada for more than 50 years. The brother immigrated to Canada when just 14-years-old, joining his father to work in construction in order to save money for the rest of the family to eventually join them.
"We are truly blessed as immigrants that we went to Canada," the sister of the family said. "With God's help, with a lot of faith, determination and perseverance…we today have realized a universal dream of all migrants to fulfill the dreams of providing a better home, a better life for our family and our loved ones."
For the past 40 years they have volunteered with the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles, also called Scalabrinians, to assist fellow migrants.
After hearing their testimonies, the Pope in his speech used four words to explain what our shared response to the contemporary challenges of the migration issue should be: to welcome, to protect, to promote and to integrate.
To welcome the migrant, he said, we must change our attitude of rejection, "rooted ultimately in self-centeredness," in order "to overcome indifference and to counter fears with a generous approach of welcoming those who knock at our doors."
A responsible and dignified welcome begins with offering decent and appropriate shelter, he said.
Large gatherings of refugees and asylum-seekers, such as in camps, has created more issues, not fewer, he said, noting that more widespread programs which emphasize personal encounter have appeared to have better results.
We protect the migrant when we enact just laws, especially in recognition of the fact that migrants are more vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and violence, he said, referring to a point previously made by Benedict XVI.
Development, according to the social doctrine of the Church, is "an undeniable right of every human being," the Pope said.
(Story continues below)
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As such, development "must be guaranteed by ensuring the necessary conditions for its exercise, both in the individual and social context, providing fair access to fundamental goods for all people and offering the possibility of choice and growth."
This takes a coordinated effort from everyone, he said, placing specific emphasis on the political community, civil society, international organizations and religious institutions.
On the point of integration, Francis emphasized that it is not the same as "assimilation" or "incorporation," but is rather a "two-way process." This, he said, means it requires joint recognition on the part of both the migrant and the person in the receiving country.
We must beware of a sort-of cultural "superimposing" of one culture over another, he said, and also cautioned against a "mutual isolation" which has the "dangerous risk of creating ghettoes."
Above all, policies should favor the reunion of families, the Pope said, but stressed that those who arrive in a new country are "duty bound not to close themselves off from the culture and traditions of the receiving country, respecting above all its laws."
Through welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating, we discover the "sacred value of hospitality," he said. "For us Christians, hospitality offered to the weary traveler is offered to Jesus Christ himself, through the newcomer."