Pope Francis says deliberately opposing migration ‘is a grave sin’

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Pope Francis says deliberately opposing migration ‘is a grave sin’
Opposing migration of any kind 'when done with awareness and responsibility, is a grave sin,' Pope Francis said.



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Aug 28, 2024
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis condemned efforts to regulate immigration, stating that those who “systemically” work to “repel migrants” are committing a “grave sin.”

Leaving aside his series of catechetical addresses, Pope Francis today used his Wednesday audience to address the topic of immigration. “I would like to pause with you to think about the people who – even at this moment – are crossing seas and deserts to reach a land where they can live in peace and safety,” he opened.

‘A grave sin’

Using the themes of “seas and deserts,” Francis stated that both seas and deserts are becoming “cemeteries of migrants.” He added that “the tragedy is that many, the majority of these deaths, could have been prevented.”

Francis has often highlighted the topic of migration from the very earliest days of his pontificate.

Today’s general audience saw him amplify his already strong rhetoric as he condemned anyone who took steps to oppose migration:

It must be said clearly: There are those who work systematically and with every means possible to repel migrants – to repel migrants. And this, when done with awareness and responsibility, is a grave sin.

Elaborating on his description of opposing migration as being a “sin,” Francis drew on Sacred Scripture: “Let us not forget what the Bible tells us: ‘You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him’ (Ex 22:21). The orphan, the widow and the stranger are the quintessential poor whom God always defends and asks to be defended.”

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The Pontiff also pointed to a disparity between the wealth of different societies, commenting that “in the time of satellites and drones, there are migrant men, women and children that no one must see: they are hidden. Only God sees them and hears their cry. And this is a cruelty of our civilization.”

Turning to Scripture once again, Francis compared current immigration – a phenomena particularly focused into Europe from Africa and into the U.S. from the southern border – to the “great migration” of the Jewish people who were led by Moses out of slavery in Egypt.

“It will be good for us today: the Lord is with our migrants in the mare nostrum, the Lord is with them, not with those who repel them,” Francis commented.

The Pope did not distinguish between legal and illegal immigration during his audience address, or on the manner in which immigrants should be welcomed and acclimatize to the local culture – an aspect on which the Church has clear teaching. His words appeared to be a general invitation for increased immigration of any kind.


Open borders and Catholic social teaching

Italy has been facing a spiraling migrant crisis for many years due to the mass influx of individuals into the country, chiefly from African Muslim nations. The harbor town of Lampedusa is a popular destination for such migrant boats due to its position in the far south of Italy, and it is increasingly being overrun by Muslim immigrants. It was here that Pope Francis made his first trip outside of Rome in July 2013.

With much of Europe now seeing a marked increase in violence linked to illegal immigration, often by Muslims, Francis has nevertheless continued to issue a call for more immigration rather than less.

Addressing the audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Francis said that to prevent migrants from suffering in “those lethal deserts” there should be more open borders:

But it is not through more restrictive laws, it is not with the militarization of borders, it is not with rejection that we will obtain this result. Instead, we will obtain it by extending safe and legal access routes for migrants, providing refuge for those who flee from war, violence, persecution and various disasters; we will obtain it by promoting in every way a global governance of migration based on justice, fraternity and solidarity. And by joining forces to combat human trafficking, to stop the criminal traffickers who mercilessly exploit the misery of others.

The Catholic Church’s teaching regarding immigration is a careful mix of charity to the citizens of a nation and those seeking entrance to that nation for just reasons. The Catechism notes that “political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption.”

Furthermore, the Catechism outlines that “immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.”

Such a teaching was expounded upon in 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI in his message for the 97th World Day of Migrants and Refugees. While quoting from Pope John Paul II to defend the “possibility” for people “to enter another country to look for better conditions of life,” Benedict also defended the rights of the home nations to restrict such entries:

At the same time, States have the right to regulate migration flows and to defend their own frontiers, always guaranteeing the respect due to the dignity of each and every human person. Immigrants, moreover, have the duty to integrate into the host Country, respecting its laws and its national identity.

Indeed, prior to this, John Paul II wrote for the same occasion in 2001 that the exercise of the “right to emigrate … is to be regulated, because practicing it indiscriminately may do harm and be detrimental to the common good of the community that receives the migrant.”


Papal praise for Mediterranean project

Concluding his Wednesday audience, Pope Francis praised the “courageous men and women” who “do their utmost to rescue and save injured and abandoned migrants on the routes of desperate hope, in the five continents.”

He included the organization Mediterranea Saving Humans (MSH) among those he described as being “on the front line” in the “fight for civilization.” In recent days, the scandal-encircled organization embarked on another trip to bring illegal immigrants to Italy, and for the first time did so in conjunction with the Italian Catholic bishops’ conference.

Pope Francis sent a handwritten note praising the endeavor.

Pope Francis’ letter. Credit: Vatican Media

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MSH’s ship “Mare Jonio” has previously been confiscated and fined over disputes with the local authorities regarding their bringing illegal refugees to Italian ports.

Scandal erupted last December when it was reported that controversial activist Luca Casarini – personally invited to the Synod on Synodality by Francis – has had his activity supporting illegal immigration heavily bankrolled by the Italian bishops.

Casarini works with MSH, and the group’s chaplain has been identified as a key link between Italian bishops’ conference president Cardinal Matteo Zuppi and a recent increase in funding from the Italian episcopate.