Pope Francis encouraged the welcoming of migrants and refugees in his remarks after praying the Angelus January 14, 2018, with the crowd of some 25,000 in St. Peter’s Square:
“Every foreigner that knocks at our door is an occasion of encounter with Jesus Christ, who identifies Himself with the stranger, received or rejected, of every time (Cf. Matthew 25:35.43). [. . .] In this connection, I wish to reaffirm that our common response can be articulated around four verbs founded on principles of the Doctrine of the Church: receive, protect, promote and integrate.” For pastoral reasons, henceforth the World Day of Migrants and Refugees will be celebrated on the second Sunday of September. The next one, that is, the 105th will be Sunday, September 8, 2019.
© Libreria Editrice Vatican
[Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester]
JF
