(Jan. 15, 2007) The migrant family should not be seen as a problem, but rather as
a resource for humanity, Benedict XVI said on Sunday, World Day of Migrants and Refugees.
The Holy Father made these comments before reciting the midday Angelus prayer with
the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square. He dedicated his address to the migrant
family, the theme of the message he released earlier in November for the Catholic
Church’s annual observance. In his Sunday Angelus address, the Pope recalled that
the Holy Family of Nazareth was also a migrant family. They emigrated from their home
country to Egypt to flee Herod's persecution. The Pontiff said: "In the drama of
the family of Nazareth we can perceive the painful condition of so many migrants,
especially refugees, the exiled, the displaced and the persecuted. "We recognize,
in particular, the difficulties of the migrant family as such: the difficult conditions
of life, the humiliations, inconveniences and fragility." The Holy Father said that
today "the phenomenon of human mobility is very widespread and diversified." The
Holy Father explained: "According to recent United Nations estimates, migrants impelled
by financial reasons number almost 200 million; refugees number 9 million and international
students some 2 million. "To this great number of brothers and sisters must be added
the internally displaced and irregular migrants, keeping in mind that each one of
them has, in one way or another, a family." The Pope appealed for the care of "migrants
and their families through the help of specific legislative, juridical and administrative
protections, as well as through a network of services and structures of social and
pastoral assistance, with special attention to women and minors.