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PHOTOS: Pope Francis leads prayer for migrants during Synod on Synodality

October 20, 2023 Catholic News Agency 1
Pope Francis prayed for migrants and refugees with the delegates of the Synod on Synodality at St. Peter’s Square on Thursday evening, Oct. 19, 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN/Vatican Pool

Vatican City, Oct 20, 2023 / 09:09 am (CNA).

Pope Francis prayed for migrants and refugees with the delegates of the Synod on Synodality just after sunset on Thursday evening.

The simple, 25-minute prayer service took place in a quiet St. Peter’s Square in front of Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz’s “Angels Unawares” sculpture. The bronze statue, installed in the square in 2019, depicts migrants from different times and places in history aboard a boat.

A visibly tired Pope Francis, seated in a wheelchair, was pushed into a closed and mostly empty St. Peter’s Square about 15 minutes early Oct. 19. The 364 delegates and about 90 other synod participants arrived shortly afterward from their meeting in the nearby Paul VI Hall.

The pope arrived by wheelchair at the prayer service at St. Peter’s Square. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN/Vatican Pool
The pope arrived by wheelchair at the prayer service at St. Peter’s Square. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN/Vatican Pool

The prayer moment was organized as part of the Oct. 4–29 Synod on Synodality at the Vatican and was one of many opportunities for synod members to pray together over the course of the monthlong meeting.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, told journalists earlier in the day that it would be “a beautiful opportunity to prayerfully reenact what we are talking about and trying to appreciate in the synod.”

“The assembly, which is learning how to walk together as a Church, will effectively symbolize walking together with some of the most vulnerable people on our planet: Those who are fleeing, those who are forced to be on the move, those whom we call migrants and refugees,” he said.

The prayer opened with a reading from the Gospel of Luke 10:25-37, which includes the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Pope Francis then gave a short reflection, in which he said: “We can never be grateful enough to St. Luke for passing on to us this parable of the Lord.”

“This parable is also at the heart of the encyclical Fratelli Tutti because it is a key, I would say the key, to moving from the closure of a world to an open world, from a world at war to the peace of another world,” he said.

The pope recalled the many difficulties faced by migrants today, including being taken advantage of by traffickers, “kidnapped, imprisoned, exploited, and enslaved,” and “humiliated, tortured, raped.”

“So many of them die without ever reaching their destination,” he said. “The migration routes of our time are filled with men and women who are wounded and left half-dead, our brothers and sisters whose pain cries out before God.”

The pope recalled the many difficulties faced by migrants today, including being taken advantage of by traffickers, “kidnapped, imprisoned, exploited, and enslaved,” and “humiliated, tortured, raped.” Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN/Vatican Pool
The pope recalled the many difficulties faced by migrants today, including being taken advantage of by traffickers, “kidnapped, imprisoned, exploited, and enslaved,” and “humiliated, tortured, raped.” Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN/Vatican Pool

Pope Francis pointed out the need to create safe paths for people to migrate and said “it is also necessary to promote a common and co-responsible approach to the governance of migration flows, which appear set to increase in the coming years.”

The lesson from the parable of the Good Samaritan, he explained, is to have compassion: “Like the Good Samaritan, we are called to be neighbors to all the wayfarers of our time, to save their lives, to heal their wounds, and to soothe their pain.”

“For many, tragically, it is too late, and we are left only to weep over their graves, if they even have a grave, or the Mediterranean ends up being their grave. Yet the Lord knows the face of each of them, and he does not forget it,” he said.

Francis concluded his reflection by asking for a moment of silence to remember those who have lost their lives or become enslaved or exploited along migration routes.

“Like the Good Samaritan, we are called to be neighbors to all the wayfarers of our time, to save their lives, to heal their wounds and to soothe their pain,” said Pope Francis. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN/Vatican Pool
“Like the Good Samaritan, we are called to be neighbors to all the wayfarers of our time, to save their lives, to heal their wounds and to soothe their pain,” said Pope Francis. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN/Vatican Pool

Three refugees from Cameroon, Ukraine, and El Salvador and two officials from the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development read the intercessory prayers.

The prayer ended with the recitation of the Our Father and then the pope gave his blessing.

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Migrants and refugees Mass in Canada celebrates universality, vibrancy of the Church

October 7, 2023 Catholic News Agency 1
Polish dancers at the reception following this year’s World Day for Migrants and Refugees Mass at St. Paul’s Parish in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, on Sept. 23, 2023. / Credit: Nicholas Elbers

Vancouver, Canada, Oct 7, 2023 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Eastern European floral prints were resplendent next to elaborate Asian headdresses at this year’s Mass celebrating the annual World Day for Migrants and Refugees on Sept. 23 in Richmond, British Columbia.

The event’s attendance was back to pre-COVID numbers, and St. Paul’s Church in Richmond was packed to capacity. An African choir provided music during Communion, and several hundred people attended a post-Mass reception with ethnic food served from many of the cultures present and performances by cultural choirs and dancers. 

Attendees at the post-Mass reception with ethnic food served from many of the cultures present and performances by cultural choirs and dancers, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 23, 2023. Credit: Nicholas Elbers
Attendees at the post-Mass reception with ethnic food served from many of the cultures present and performances by cultural choirs and dancers, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 23, 2023. Credit: Nicholas Elbers

In his homily, Father Richard Zanotti said it’s essential that migrants and refugees don’t get blamed for seeking a life of dignity.

“The universality of the Church is made visible by all of you gathered for this Eucharist, many cultures around one table to celebrate God’s love for us all,” said the Scalabrinian pastor of St. Ann’s, where he works with migrant workers in the Fraser Valley.

The Church teaches us that we all have a right to a life of dignity, replete with basic human needs like food, shelter, medical attention, and dignified work, he said.

Migrants and refugees must not be blamed for seeking a life of dignity, said Father Richard Zanotti at St. Paul's Church at the Migrants and Refugees Mass in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 23, 2023. Credit: Nicholas Elbers
Migrants and refugees must not be blamed for seeking a life of dignity, said Father Richard Zanotti at St. Paul’s Church at the Migrants and Refugees Mass in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 23, 2023. Credit: Nicholas Elbers

In his address for this year’s Day for Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis said: “Since the world’s resources are not unlimited, the development of the economically poorer countries depends on the capacity for sharing that we can manage to generate among all countries.”

Until that happens, “many people will still have to emigrate in order to seek a better life, a life worthy of dignity,” the pope said.

Reflecting on the pope’s message, Zanotti said it’s important not to blame migrants and refugees but to look at the world’s responsibility for supporting poor countries so their people don’t feel compelled to leave.

“We pray for the political will to do this in a safe and orderly way,” Zanotti said.

Music minster at Migrants and Refugees Mass in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 23, 2023. Credit: Nicholas Elbers
Music minster at Migrants and Refugees Mass in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 23, 2023. Credit: Nicholas Elbers

‘If I was caught, it could mean death’: a refugee’s testimony

As is the custom after the Mass, the audience heard from a Catholic refugee who shared her story of coming to Canada.

This year’s testimony came from an Eritrean woman who shared how she escaped the injustice of her home country. She asked that her name not be published.

A refugee from Eritrea (pictured here with her family) shared her 10-year journey to find freedom at the post-Mass reception following this year's World Day for Migrants and Refugees Mass at St. Paul’s Parish in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 23, 2023. Credit: Nicholas Elbers
A refugee from Eritrea (pictured here with her family) shared her 10-year journey to find freedom at the post-Mass reception following this year’s World Day for Migrants and Refugees Mass at St. Paul’s Parish in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 23, 2023. Credit: Nicholas Elbers

“Thirteen years ago, I decided to leave Eritrea, the country that I grew up in and I loved.

“Under dictatorship, soldiers had put us forever in slavery. Life was unbearable, and we were working unpaid for the government.” One day she went with a friend to a shoe store to buy plastic sandals, she said, “the kind our freedom fighters wore during the 30-year war for independence in my country. I was ready for my journey to freedom in my freedom shoes.”

This article originally appeared in The B.C. Catholic on Oct. 5, 2023, and has been adapted and reprinted here with permission.

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