No human is illegal

Pope Francis recently traveled to Greece where he gave a speech about the treatment of migrants.

The pandemic has had a global impact; it has made us realize that we are all on the same boat; it has made us experience what it means to have identical fears. We have come to understand that the great issues must be faced together, since in today’s world piecemeal solutions are inadequate. Yet while we are working to vaccinate people worldwide and, despite many delays and hesitations, progress is being made in the fight against climate change, all this seems to be terribly absent when it comes to migration. Yet human lives, real people, are at stake! The future of us all is at stake, and that future will be peaceful only if it is integrated. Only if it is reconciled with the most vulnerable will the future be prosperous. When we reject the poor, we reject peace.

As we read in the news recently about how migrants were caught between Belarus and Poland while several of them froze to death, we are brought back to our values by the Holy Father’s words:

Let me repeat: history teaches this lesson, yet we have not learned it. Let us stop ignoring reality, stop constantly shifting responsibility, stop passing off the issue of migration to others, as if it mattered to no one and was only a pointless burden to be shouldered by somebody else…the dignity of each person ought to come before all else.

You can read Pope Francis’ complete speech at tinyurl.com/lsia-migrants. Yes, the pope’s words remind us that migrants are part of creation too and need to be cherished and protected like all of God’s creation. You may have seen a yard sign around town that makes the equivalent statement: “No human is illegal.” 

Working together, we can help take care of our common home. 

Paul Litwin