Pope Francis has condemned those who fail to help migrants, during his traditional Easter speech in Rome.
The Pope said migrants often met “rejection from those who could offer them welcome and assistance”.
He also condemned terrorism as “a blind and brutal violence” that should be fought with “weapons of love”.
The Pope was delivering his “urbi et orbi” (To the city and the world) message to thousands amid tight security in St Peter’s Square.
The Pope said: “The Easter message of the risen Christ… invites us not to forget those men and women seeking a better future, an ever more numerous throng of migrants and refugees… fleeing from war, hunger, poverty and social injustice.
“All too often, these brothers and sisters of ours meet along the way with death or, in any event, rejection by those who could offer them welcome and assistance.”
Tens of thousands of migrants, mainly fleeing conflict in Syria and Iraq, are now stranded in Greece, after European nations and Turkey agreed a plan to shut their route to northern Europe.
Pope Francis also offered a prayer for Syria: “The risen Christ points out paths of hope to beloved Syria, a country torn by a lengthy conflict with its sad wake of destruction, death, contempt for humanitarian law and the breakdown of civil concord.”
He expressed his hope for success at peace scheduled to resume next month.
The Pope also urged people to use the “weapons of love” to combat the evil of terrorism, reports BBC.
Posted by Janice Johnson
