As planned, the World Day of Migrants and Refugees will have a particular echo at Lampedusa, with two important events this weekend.
At 4 o’clock on Saturday afternoon, the Cardinal Archbishop of Agrigento, Francesco Montenegro, will preside over the celebration of Vespers and will open the Holy Door of the Shrine of Our Lady of Porto Salvo.
At 9:30 am on Sunday, at the Door of Europe, a monument dedicated to the memory of the drowned migrants, a moment of prayer and reflection will take place on the theme of the World Day: “Migrants and Refugees Challenge Us. The Response of the Gospel of Mercy.”
It is here that Cardinal Montenegro will probably open a second “Holy Door,” a place of entrance not to a church but to hope for a better future for all those who have survived the perils of the sea and for those who lost their lives.
At 11 o’clock, in the parish of Saint Gerlando, the Archbishop will preside over Holy Mass, at the end of which the gift that the Cuban President Raul Castro gave to Pope Francis, during his pastoral visit to Cuba last September, will be given to the inhabitants of Lampedusa: a crucifix made with wooden oars by Cuban artist Khco.
