Vatican City, Mar 8, 2018 / 09:55 am
The Church is responsible for encouraging civil leaders to respond to migration on the basis of Catholic social teaching, the Pope told the International Catholic Migration Commission Thursday.
"Together we must encourage countries to coordinate more suitable and effective responses to the challenges posed by issues of migration; and we can do this on the basis of the essential principles of the Church's social teaching," Pope Francis said March 8 in the Vatican's Clementine Hall to the members of the comission's plenary council.
"I ask the Holy Spirit to continue to enlighten all of you, as you carry out your vital mission of showing forth God's merciful love to our migrant brothers and sisters."
He commented that "your commitment has deepened in response to the inhumane living conditions experienced by millions of our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters in various parts of the world. Just as he did at the time of Israel's enslavement in Egypt, so too the Lord hears their cry and sees their sufferings."