“For those fleeing their own countries”: This is Pope Francis’ prayer intention for June, illustrated in The Pope Video distributed by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.
Walls on the earth, walls in hearts
The videomessage, produced in collaboration with Tele VID and with the support of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, is a story about borders in various parts of the world. Scenes show suffering faces, walking feet, bags filled with the little someone managed to take from home. But there are also scenes showing gestures of solidarity, hugs, welcome projects. The Pope reminds Christians that “whoever welcomes a migrant welcomes Christ.”
The Pope reminds Christians that “whoever welcomes a migrant welcomes Christ.”
Pope Francis laments that “in some destination countries, migrants are viewed as threats, with fear,” which gives rise to the “specter of walls – walls on the earth separating families, and walls in hearts.”
But Christians, the Pope states, “cannot share this vision.”
Fleeing and uprooted
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), in 2023 there were 110 million people forcefully displaced throughout the world.
“The feeling of uprootedness or not knowing where they belong often accompanies the trauma experienced by people who are forced to flee their homeland because of war or poverty,” the Pope laments at the beginning of the video launched in the month in which the United Nations commemorates World Refugee Day (June 20).
He asks that “we promote a social and political culture that protects the rights and dignity of migrants, a culture that promotes the possibility that they can achieve their full potential.”
A global nation
The topic of migrants and refugees has concerned the Pope since the beginning of his pontificate. In the Apostolic Exortation Evangelii Gaudium (2013), he said:
“Migrants present a particular challenge for me, since I am the pastor of a Church without frontiers, a Church which considers herself mother to all. For this reason, I exhort all countries to a generous openness which, rather than fearing the loss of local identity, will prove capable of creating new forms of cultural synthesis.”
A few years later, in the Encyclical Fratelli Tutti (2020), he invited us to have “a heart open to the whole world” and to respect “the right of all individuals to find a place […] where they can find personal fulfillment.”
God walks with his people
Each year since 1914, the Church invites us to pray for migrants on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. “God walks with his People” is the theme chosen for this day in 2024 which will be held September 29.
Cardinal Michael Czerny, the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the World Day organizer, reflects,
“Pope Francis reminds us that ‘God walks with his people.’ The Holy Family had to take refuge in a foreign land because Baby Jesus’ life was in danger. All of us are invited to welcome, protect, promote and integrate any person who has fled their homeland to save their lives or who are searching for a dignified future. By protecting the rights of migrants, the integral human development of every person is promoted and communities that welcome them are enriched in multiple ways.”
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