INTERNATIONAL: Pope Francis on Wednesday has compared the sacred family of Jesus to today's migrants, victims, like the family of Nazareth, of a displacement that is a 'scandal of humanity'.
“When Jesus fleeing into the arms of St Joseph and Mary, we see in him each of today's migrants", the Pope has told faithful gathered for his weekly general audience. "Migration is a reality of today to which we cannot close our eyes, it is a social scandal of humanity."
In fleeing into Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath, the Holy Family "suffered such humiliation and had experienced first-hand the precariousness and pain of having to leave their homeland", the 85-year-old pontiff has added.
Francis has accused tyrants, past and present, who become like wolves for other men. “For tyrants, people don't count, only power counts and if they need space or power they kill people", he said. "History is full of personalities who, living at the mercy of their own fears, try to overcome them by exerting power in a despotic manner, implementing inhuman intentions of violence."
On his birthday on 17 December, Pope Francis has met a group of migrants brought to Italy as part of an initiative by the pontiff to arrange the transfer of 50 migrants from Cyprus, following a visit earlier in the month.
Francis, who was elected the first pontiff from Latin America in 2013, has made the defence of migrants and refugees a cornerstone of his pontificate. In 2016 the pope visited Lesbos, then at the front-line of Europe's migration crisis, and arranged for 12 Syrian refugees to return to Italy with him.
