WORLD REFUGEE DAY: THE SEARCH FOR (A BETTER) LIFE
JUNE 20, 2024: On World Refugee Day we are reminded of the plight of some many of our brothers and sisters around the world, who risk their lives to seek refuge and often find hostility instead.
Francesca Merlo
Every year thousands of refugees leave their homes and undergo dangerous journeys in search of safety. Every year thousands of refugees die in the process. It is estimated that more than 120 million people have been forcibly displaced globally, by May 2024, as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, and human rights violations.
Danielle Vella, from the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), has interviewed countless of them, seeking refuge in Europe. “Why did you leave?”, she asks them. “The journey is so dangerous”.
Their answer is more or less always the same, she says: “I left because I had to”.
“One answer, in particular, really struck me”, she tells Vatican News: “Not for a better life… just life”. CONTINUE: World Refugee Day: the search for (a better) life – Vatican News
POPE: ‘WELCOME, PROMOTE, ACCOMPANY, AND INTEGRATE’ REFUGEES
JUNE 19, 2024: At his weekly General Audience, Pope Francis urges compassion for “all those who are forced to flee their homes in search of peace and security.”
Joseph Tulloch
Ahead of the UN’s World Refugee Day, which will be celebrated on the 20th June, Pope Francis has called for called for better treatment for refugees.
Speaking at the end of his weekly General Audience, the Pope called for the World Day to be “an opportunity to turn an attentive and fraternal gaze to all those who are forced to flee their homes in search of peace and security.”
“We are all called to welcome, promote, accompany and integrate those who knock on our doors,” the Pope added. “I pray that States will strive to ensure humane conditions for refugees and to facilitate integration processes.” Pope: ‘Welcome, promote, accompany, and integrate’ refugees – Vatican News
POPE FRANCIS: AN ENCOUNTER WITH A MIGRANT IS AN ENCOUNTER WITH CHRIST
JUNE 3, 2024: In his message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis invites us to see migrations as a sign of the times and as a symbol of the Church’s pilgrimage throughout history.
By Linda Bordoni
“See in the migrants of our time, as in those of every age, a living image of God’s people on their way to the eternal homeland,” writes Pope Francis in his 2024 Message for the 110th World Day of Migrants and Refugees.
The World Day, celebrated annually on 24 September, is a call to believers to show support and closeness to the millions of men, women and children who are forced to leave their homes. The current global estimate is that there were around 281 million international migrants in the world in 2020, which equates to 3.6 per cent of the global population, and that number continues to rise. Pope Francis: An encounter with a migrant is an encounter with Christ – Vatican News
Joan's Rome 