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(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Louis Antonio Tagle, President of Caritas Internationalis, urges us to remember that refugees are more than numbers or statistics.

Reacting to Pope Francis’ visit to Lesbos on Saturday, Cardinal Tagle told Vatican Radio that he is sure many people have been touched by the Pope's words and actions. He said it reminded him of a trip he himself made last October to visit refugees in Idomini, Greece, where he noticed “how much the people, even the non-Christians, appreciated the love, humanity, and concern the Church has been extending to them.”

Listen to Vatican Radio’s Alessandro Gisotti speaking with Cardinal Tagle about the Pope’s symbolic trip to Lesbos.  

Listen: 

Cardinal Tagle spoke positively of the visit’s impact, noting how it had no agenda. “There is no effort to win or convince people to become Christians or to give us something in return for anything good being given. This is pure, sincere love. And that is the best testimony and the best witness to God, who is love.”

The Holy Father, he says, was also very "touched and confirmed in his faith."

Refugees, volunteers can teach us lessons "about being human"

“I thought we were the ones giving to the people. But it is the refugees and also the volunteers who teach us lessons about being human, about being dignified, and about being hopeful,” the Cardinal adds.

In light of Pope Francis’ call for mercy in the Jubilee year, Cardinal Tagle believes that actions are merciful when our hearts “see human beings” first. “The Holy Father, and others working in those camps are showing to the world that the external action, the work, is important but it must come from a merciful heart.” The trip, he says, reminds us that the refugees and migrants “are not just numbers and statistics. Our hearts must see human beings in them, so the work is really a merciful act. It’s not just some sort of obligation but really an act of compassion- It is ‘I see a brother, I see a sister, I see a neighbour.’”

Service to those in need can replace "fear of the other"

When asked if he thinks this visit will awaken the hearts and minds of Europeans, Cardinal Tagle expresses hope that the “fear of migrants” will be diminished. “Fear is often baseless, with no foundation,” he says. “When you ask people who are afraid of accepting some of the migrants and refugees if they have encountered a refugee or a migrant first-hand, they say no, they have not. But when you do encounter them, you see that children are just like any children who are hungry and get tired. And you see that mothers and fathers running away from war are just like our own fathers and mothers who long for a peaceful life for their children. With this, hopefully the fear will disappear and diminish, and we will see a way by which we can be of service to each other.”

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(Vatican Radio)  The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales are urging the faithful to think of the common good and to turn out to vote in the so-called Brexit Referendum 23 June on whether or not the U.K. should withdraw from the European Union.

In a statement following their Plenary Assembly 11-14 April, the bishops said they “recognise the historic nature of this referendum and its implications for future generations. The outcome will have consequences for the future not only of the United Kingdom, but for Europe and for the world.”

They recalled Europe’s Christian roots and said it is important that people cast an informed vote.  In particular, they invited Catholics to participate in three “essential” ways:

• that we pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit;
• that we all inform ourselves of the arguments on both sides of the debate;
• that we each exercise our vote with a view to the common good of all.

In the statement, the bishops said, “The coming together of European countries in the aftermath of a catastrophic war was designed to bind together former combatants and the contribution of the European project to peace in Western Europe should be recognised. Pope Francis reminds us, in his address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 25 November 2014, that the ideals which shaped this European project from the beginning were peace, subsidiarity and solidarity. In the Treaty of Rome, trade was harnessed to peace. The peace achieved in Western Europe shows indeed how "our problems can become powerful forces for unity" (par 5). Our decision in the referendum should thus be taken in the context of how best we can promote justice and peace.

Our focus needs to be above all on the human person. We need to build a Europe "which revolves not around the economy but around the sacredness of the human person, around inalienable values" (par 37). We all have a responsibility to keep the dignity of the human person at the forefront of the debate. We must ask ourselves, in the face of every issue, what will best serve the dignity of all people both within Europe and beyond.”

This referendum is about much more than economics.

“We must not forget the profoundly religious roots of European nations; that Europe has a two thousand year-old Christian culture that has shaped the continent and is a dynamic spiritual, moral and intellectual resource as we address the future. As Pope Francis reminds us, we need continually to ask ourselves: who is my neighbour? In response to grave challenges, we are called to be generous and welcoming to all others, especially the most vulnerable.”

“Each person will have their own views about the best political framework in which to realise these ideals. We acknowledge the justifiable concerns that many people have in relation to the European Union, its institutions and the implications of increasing integration.

This referendum is an opportunity to reflect on those values we cherish as a nation and as Catholics. High among these values are mutual respect and civility, vital in this national conversation about the very future of our nation within the world.”

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Monday with the President of the Central African Republic, Faustin Archange Touadéra, recalling the warm welcome he received during his pastoral journey to that country last November. During his visit to the Vatican, the President also held talks with Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.

A statement from the Holy See press office said the cordial talks between the Pope and the President noted how the recent electoral process and the ongoing institutional reforms are taking place in a constructive manner, supported by dialogue between the different religious communities. The two leaders expressed the desire that this process may mark the start of an era of peace and prosperity for the entire nation.

At the same time, discussions also focused on the way the consequences of the years of conflict still weigh heavily on the people of the CAR, stressing the need for the international community to continue to support the development of the country.

The statement said the two leaders also spoke about the good bilateral relations between the Holy See and the Central African Republic, sharing the hope that those relations may be further consolidated through legal instruments in the context of international law.

Finally the communique said appreciation was expressed for the contribution of the Catholic Church and its pastors to the wellbeing of society in the CAR, especially in the fields of education, health care, reconciliation and national reconstruction.

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The United Nations refugee agency has welcomed the solidarity of Pope Francis with the world's ‎refugees and migrants when he visited them in the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday, and offered a ‎home to three Syrian families bringing them along with him to Rome.    "The Pope's latest gesture is a ‎powerful demonstration of solidarity. It must inspire governments and societies in a world where the ‎desperate plight of record numbers of forcibly displaced is too often met by barriers, rejection and ‎fear," said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).  ‎The 12 Syrians included three couples and six children aged 4 to 14 years. Two families are from ‎the capital, Damascus, and one from the city of Deir ez-Zor.‎

War, conflict and persecution have forced around 60 million people worldwide to run for their lives, the ‎largest number since World War II. Nearly 20 million of these are refugees and more than half are ‎children.  The conflict in Syria is the main driver of this global crisis, forcing more than 4.8 million ‎Syrians to become refugees in its neighbouring countries alone, with more seeking safety further afield.‎  (Source: UN)

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An elderly tribal Catholic from eastern India’s Jharkhand state who recently was honoured with the nation’s fourth highest civilian honor, credits his community for his work to protect the environment and conserve water.  Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on April 12 honoured 83-year old Simon Oraon with the Padma Shri Award at a ceremony inside the parliament building in New Delhi.  The award recognizes his work to bring back green space to the tribal villages of his Bedo area, near the state capital Ranchi.   Speaking to UCANEWS, Oraon, known as the "waterman" of Jharkhand owed the Padma Shri to all those who made his mission succeed.  Oraon, who dropped out of school in the fourth grade, said that as a child, he witnessed famine and abject poverty that destroyed hectares of farmland and killed livestock, forcing his family and villagers to migrate to save their own lives.  To remedy the situation, he along with friends, built a check dam in 1961 to trap rainwater.  After the dam gave way twice, they lobbied the government for help in building a concrete dam. They also planted trees in the area.  Noting the positive changes, villagers began returning to the area and improving the environment soon became a movement.  He told UCANEWS more than 1,600 families now grow crops on nearly 850 hectares of land, supplying vegetables to Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Kolkata cities.  The prestigious Jesuit-run Indian Social Institute in New Delhi holds up Oraon as a role model for people in drought-affected areas.  (Source: UCAN)

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Aboard the papal plane, Apr 16, 2016 / 01:25 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has said that the family is in crisis, and that is a much bigger issue than communion for the divorced and remarried. He suggested the news media had focused too much on the latter issue during the synod and in coverage of his recent document on the family.

The Pope spoke with journalists on his plane flight back from visiting refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos April 16.

A reporter from the French newspaper Le Figaro asked why his post-synod document “Amoris Laetitia” treats access to the sacraments for the divorced and remarried in a footnote.

In response, Pope Francis noted a recent Pope’s reflections on the Second Vatican Council. There was the council as it took place in St. Peter’s Basilica, and there was the “council of the media” that covered the event, Pope Benedict XVI had said in February 2013.

“When I convoked the first synod, the great concern of the media was communion for the divorced and remarried, and, since I am not a saint, this bothered me, and then made me sad,” Pope Francis said, suggesting that he is sad that he can be annoyed.

“But do you not realize that that is not important?” he asked. “Don’t you realize that instead the family is in crisis, don’t we realize that the falling birth rate in Europe is enough to make one cry? And the family is the basis of society.”

“Do you not realize that the youth don’t want to marry?” he asked. “Don’t you realize that the lack of work or the little work (available) means that a mother has to get two jobs and the children grow up alone? These are the big problems.”

He said he thought this aspect of the family crisis is certainly in a footnote in “Amoris Laetitia” because he spoke about it in “Evangelii Gaudium,” his 2013 apostolic exhortation.

“Amoris Laetitia” is the Pope’s post-synodal exhortation published April 8. It reflected upon the bishops’ synods on the family in October 2014 and 2015.

In a previous question during the Pope’s April 16 in-flight press conference, Francis X. Rocca of the Wall Street Journal, had asked Pope Francis about access to the sacraments for the divorced and remarried and “Amoris Laetitia.”

“Some sustain that nothing has changed with respect to the discipline that regulates access to the sacraments for the divorced and remarried, that the Law, the pastoral praxis and obviously the doctrine remain the same,” Rocca said. “Others sustain that much has changed and that there are new openings and possibilities.”

Rocca asked: “are there new, concrete possibilities that didn’t exist before the publication of the exhortation or not?”

Pope Francis answered: “I can say yes, many. But it would be an answer that is too small.”

The Pope recommended Cardinal Christoph Schonborn’s presentation of the exhortation.

“You’ll find the answer there,” the Pope said.

Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, the Archbishop of Vienna, led the April 8 press conference releasing the document.

The cardinal had said there had been “too much concentration” on the questions regarding the pastoral care of the divorced-and-remarried. “It’s a trap to focus everything on this point because you forget the sum total of the situation,” he said.

Cardinal Schonborn said the experience of the poor is a key to reading “Amoris Laetitia.”

“In the families of the poor, little steps on the path of virtue are experienced that can be much greater than those who live in ‘comfortable success’,” he said.

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Lesbos, Greece, Apr 17, 2016 / 05:13 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Forced migration affects millions of people and is “a crisis of humanity.” That is what Pope Francis and two leading Greek Orthodox churchmen have said in a joint declaration signed on the Greek island of Lesbos.

“Europe today faces one of its most serious humanitarian crises since the end of the Second World War,” the declaration said.

Pope Francis, the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, and Orthodox Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece signed the declaration April 16. They traveled to the Greek island to meet some of the thousands of refugees and migrants trying to enter Europe.

“We urge the international community to make the protection of human lives a priority and, at every level, to support inclusive policies which extend to all religious communities,” they said.

“The terrible situation of all those affected by the present humanitarian crisis, including so many of our Christian brothers and sisters, calls for our constant prayer.”

They said the meeting is intended to bring courage and hope to those seeking refuge. They appealed to all Christians to follow Jesus Christ’s words in the Gospel of Matthew: “For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I was naked and you clothed me...”

At a Lesbos port, the three religious leaders said prayers and threw laurel wreaths into the sea, where thousands of migrants have lost their lives.

“World opinion cannot ignore the colossal humanitarian crisis created by the spread of violence and armed conflict, the persecution and displacement of religious and ethnic minorities, and the uprooting of families from their homes, in violation of their human dignity and their fundamental human rights and freedoms,” their declaration said.

The declaration said their meeting aimed to demonstrate their “profound concern” at the tragic situation of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers who flee conflict and threats to their own survival. The crisis calls for solidarity, compassion, generosity and “an immediate practical commitment of resources.”

“As leaders of our respective Churches, we are one in our desire for peace and in our readiness to promote the resolution of conflicts through dialogue and reconciliation,” the Pope and the Orthodox leaders said.

They encouraged political leaders to use every means to ensure that individuals and communities, including Christians, “remain in their homelands and enjoy the fundamental right to live in peace and security.”

They called for a broad international consensus to defend the rule of law and fundamental rights, to protect minorities, to develop safe resettlement procedures and to eliminate unsafe routes. They said the Aegean Sea and the entire Mediterranean were among these unsafe routes.

“In this way we will be able to assist those countries directly engaged in meeting the needs of so many of our suffering brothers and sisters,” they said.

Over 150,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Greece by sea so far in 2016. Many of the refugees in Lesbos come from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The declaration declared solidarity with the people of Greece, saying these people have responded to the crisis with generosity despite their own difficulties.

“Together we solemnly plead for an end to war and violence in the Middle East, a just and lasting peace and the honorable return of those forced to abandon their homes,” the declaration continued. “We ask religious communities to increase their efforts to receive, assist and protect refugees of all faiths, and that religious and civil relief services work to coordinate their initiatives.”

Pope Francis and the Orthodox leaders urged an extension of temporary asylum, refugee status for those eligible, and expanded relief efforts.

The declaration voiced resolve to strengthen efforts to promote full Christian unity.

“By defending the fundamental human rights of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants, and the many marginalized people in our societies, we aim to fulfill the Churches’ mission of service to the world,” they said.

Pope Francis returned to Italy with 12 Syrian refugees, six of whom were children. They will be hosted by the Sant’Egido Community.

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