Vatican official laments death of would-be immigrants en route to Italy

(August 24, 2009) A Vatican official has lamented the death of several dozen North Africans who died in the Mediterranean as they tried to reach Italy, saying everyone has the right to be welcomed and helped. Archbishop Antonio Vegliò, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant Workers, spoke to Vatican Radio on Saturday about the tragedy of would-be immigrants who never make it to their destinations. Five Eritreans who reached the Italian island of Lampedusa on Thursday after some 20 days, said 73 of their companions died along the way. The right to be welcomed and aided, the prelate declared, "is accentuated in situations of extreme necessity, for example when one is at the mercy of the waves of the sea." Archbishop Vegliò acknowledged that states have a legitimate right to control and regulate migration, but added, one must "harmonize the various legislative bodies with a view to safeguarding the needs and rights of migrants and families and, at the same time, those of the societies where the migrants arrive." Archbishop Vegliò said that since 1988, the possible number of shipwrecked migrants or victims on the borders of Europe has been more than 14,660. He quoted the Pope Benedict’s latest encyclical, 'Caritas in Veritate' saying “every migrant is a human person who, as such, possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by everyone and in every circumstance."