World Day of Migrants and Refugees Archives

World becoming more elitist, cruel toward excluded, pope says

Catholic News Service, Vatican
Jul 3, 2019

The excluded, especially migrants and refugees, are the ones who ultimately pay the price for humanity’s greed, Pope Francis said in a new video message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

Pope changes date of World Day of Migrants and Refugees to September

Catholic News Service, Vatican
Nov 20, 2018

At the request of various bishops’ conferences, Pope Francis has changed the date of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees to the last Sunday of September.

Chilean Church celebrates National Day of the Migrant

Catholic News Agency, Church in the Americas
Sep 7, 2018

The Church in Chile’s capital celebrated the National Day of the Migrant September 2 with a Mass of Thanksgiving and a charitable collection for the more than one million displaced people who currently live in the country.

Fear of immigrants not a sin, but being driven by it is, Pope says

Vatican
Jan 14, 2018

In a Mass on Sunday for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis said fear of new arrivals is not a sin, but allowing fear “to feed hostility and rejection” is.

Vatican reality check: It may not be partisan, but it’s definitely political

Analysis
Aug 26, 2017

While he was in Russia this week, the Vatican’s top diplomat said the Holy See is not identified with any “particular political position” — ironically, one day after Pope Francis took a position on citizenship by birth with clear political relevance in Italy right now. In truth, when Vatican officials say they’re not “political,” what they really mean is that they’re not “partisan.”

Pope calls for an end to ‘collective and arbitrary’ expulsion of migrants

Vatican
Aug 21, 2017

In a message for the Vatican-sponsored “World Day of Migrants and Refugees,” set for Jan. 14, Pope Francis called the “lamentable situation” of migrants and refugees fleeing war, persecution, natural disasters and poverty a “sign of the times,” and called for nations to rise up to the challenge of “Welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating migrants and refugees.”