They caught his attention with a banner that read “Refugees for a future together”. A dozen men ascended the steps with Francis and sat in front of him on the ground as he delivered his weekly catechism lesson.
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Pope Francis has made the European refugee crisis a top social and political priority for 2016, devoting his annual speech to the Vatican’s diplomatic corps in January to the subject and taking every opportunity to press his case for welcome and compassion.
In a video message transmitted June 22 on Armenian television, the pope said he admires the Armenian people but also shares their pain over the hard moments of the country’s history and its people. A Christian excludes no one.
In his main talk, the pope discussed the Gospel story of the leper who begged Jesus to heal him, saying: “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean”.
Pope Francis remains a passionate supporter of refugees.
Recently, the Vatican brought a second group of Syrian refugees to Rome to be housed by a Catholic charity.
During that trip, Francis told his hearers that “we are all migrants” as he greeted the many asylum-seekers awaiting word regarding the processing of their cases. “This faith is the strength that allowed him to break every convention and try to meet with Jesus and, kneeling before him, call him ‘Lord'”.
“Jesus teaches us not to be afraid of touching the poor and the excluded, because he is in them”, said the Pope during his Wednesday audience catechesis in St. Peter’s Square.
Significantly, the encounter does not end there.
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After the leper’s healing, Jesus’ instruction to “show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed” highlights the importance of bringing those excluded back “into the community of believers and social life”, he said.
