Pope's General Prayer Intention: In support of migrant families

January 31, 2013: The pope's General Prayer Intention for the Month of February - That migrant families, especially the mothers, may be supported and accompanied in their difficulties.

Poverty, war, and natural disasters have forced hundreds of millions of people to leave their homelands. Many times families are torn apart. Forty-nine percent of all refugees are women. Women are especially vulnerable as they seek safety and well-being for themselves and their children in often hostile situations.

The Holy Family was a migrant family. In 1952 Pope Pius XII wrote: “The family of Nazareth in exile, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, emigrants and taking refuge in Egypt to escape the fury of an evil king, are the model, the example, and the support of all emigrants and pilgrims of every age and every country, of all refugees of any condition who, compelled by persecution and need, are forced to abandon their homeland, their beloved relatives, their neighbors, their dear friends, and move to a foreign land.”

Calling the Holy Family “the icon of all families,” Pope Benedict wrote: “In this misfortune experienced by the Family of Nazareth, obliged to take refuge in Egypt, we can catch a glimpse of the painful condition in which all migrants live, especially, refugees, exiles, evacuees, internally displaced persons, those who are persecuted.”

Pope Benedict’s heart goes out to migrants, especially to families that have been torn apart. He also realizes how difficult the integration of migrants can be for the country that receives them. He wrote in his 2007 Message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees: “Refugees are asked to …maintain an active willingness to accept offers to participate in building together an integrated community that would be a ‘common household’ for all.”

Through our prayer and the service it leads us to do, may migrant families be supported in their
difficulties.