The Italian Episcopal Conference released a statement warning against a culture of fear that, they said, fosters a climate of mistrust and rejection towards migrants. They also appealed for the respect for life and the will to protect, promote and integrate those fleeing their homes. The statement, entitled “Migrants, from fear to welcome” notes that we are becoming accustomed to images of an ongoing tragedy in which so many die or witness death during their journeys of hope.
As reported by Vatican news, Italian Bishops remarked that “The barred eyes and the vitreous gaze of those who see themselves grabbed, in extremes, from the abyss that has swallowed up other human lives are only the last image of a tragedy to which we must not become accustomed to. We feel responsible for this army of poor people, victims of war and hunger, of deserts and torture. It is the tormented history of men, women and children, a history that cries out against the closing of borders and the erection of walls, and that demands we dare, offer solidarity, justice and peace.” Further, they added, “As Pastors of the Church, they continue, we do not pretend to offer cheap solutions. With regard to what is happening, however, we do not intend to look the other way or to make contemptuous words and aggressive attitudes our own. We cannot allow anxiety and fear to influence our choices, determine our responses, foster a climate of mistrust and contempt, anger and rejection.”
The Bishops concluded their remarks by reminding that “We unequivocally feel that the way to save humanity from vulgarity and decline is through the commitment to protect life: every life, starting with the most vulnerable, the most humiliated, the most trampled upon.”
