Archbishop: Lampedusa visit shows Pope Francis has "eyes of the heart"
(Vatican Radio) The Holy Father will visit the Italian island Lampedusa - which has
become a destination for African refugees fleeing war, violence and poverty- on Monday,
July 8th.
Lampedusa is less than 115 kilometres from the Tunisian
coast, closer than it is to Sicily, the Italian province of which it is a part. Tens
of thousands of immigrants have arrived on the island since the Arab Spring began
two years ago.
“Lampedusa … is a bridge to the African continent that we cannot
pretend it does not exist,” said Archbishop Francesco Montenegro, of the Sicilian
Archdiocese of Agrigento. He asked Pope Francis to visit the island during his recent
“ad limina” visit to Rome.
“I saw the Pope paid close attention to the news
I gave him and I said it would be good if he wanted to come,” Archbishop Montenegro
said. He told Vatican Radio the Pope is not only visiting the refugees, but also
the people of the island, whose small population has been “giving everything” to help
the migrants, who often come with nothing on perilous, flimsy boats.
“[My people]
have emptied cupboards, have provided showers, luncheons, goods, clothes ,” he said.
The
Archbishop also spoke about those who never reach Lampedusa, those untold numbers
who have died trying to make the journey.
“The number of deaths does not seem
to be of interest because they have black skin. There is so much indifference,” Archbishop
Montenegro said.
“Immigration is not an ‘emergency’, we must have the courage
to stop using this word: It is the way things are,” he said. “Today, 10 will arrive,
100 will arrive, 1000 will arrive; but the problem is not because they arrive in
the thousands. The problem is also there if only 10 arrive, because they are 10 men
who want to live.”
The official programme of the Papal Visit was released on
Monday, and Archbishop Montenegro said Pope Francis wants the visit to be low-key.
“Today
we are giving the official news, but the good thing is that the Pope has said he wants
to be a private visit, with nothing sensational,” he said. “That he wants to come
[in a very quiet manner], with the simplicity of a bishop who watches over his people
and watches over them with the eyes of the heart, I think this is a great lesson.”