At 10:30am, the helicopter carrying the Pope landed in Bologna at Chieti's Cassa di Risparmio. Upon his arrival, the Holy Father was welcomed by His Excellency, Matteo Maria Zuppi, Archbishop of Boogna; the Honourable Stefano Bonaccini, President of the Emilia-Romagna region; Doctor Matteo Piantedosi, Prefect of Bologna and Doctor Virginio Merola, Mayor of Bologna.
At 10:40am, te Pope arrived at the Regional Hub for a Meeting with Migrants who are guests and the Personnel who offer their assistance. To welcome the Holy Father, the approximately 1,000 migrants who are guests at the Centre were present. The Holy Father greeted them one by one, making his way on foot through the Square toward the platform that had been set up for the gathering.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet you all cordially and I wish to assure you of my closeness to you. I wanted this to be my first meeting in Boogna. This is the habour of arrival for those who came from far away, who made sacrifices that sometimes even you are unable to speak about.
Many do not know you and are afraid. This makes them feel as though they have a right to judge and to do so with hardness and coldness believing all the while that they are seeing well. But this is not the case. We can only see clearly through closeness which produces mercy. Without this, the other person remains a stranger, perhaps even an enemy, and cannot become a neighbour. From a distance, we can say and think whatever we wish, as easily is the case when we write terrible sentences and insults through the internet. If we look at our neighbour without mercy, we cannot take account of his suffering, his problems. And if we look at our neighbour without mercy, we run the risk that God too will look at us without mercy. Today, I see only much desire for friendship and for help. I want to thank the institutions and all the volunteers for the attention and the commitment they have given in taking care of all the guests who are here. In you, as in every stranger who knocks at our doors, I see Jesus Christ, who identifies himself with strangers of every age and condition, whether he is accepted or rejected (cf Mt 25:35, 43).
This phenomenon requires vision and great determination in management, intelligence and structure, clear mechanisms that do not permit distortion or exploitation, even more unacceptable because they are done to his poor. I believe that it is truly necessary that a greater number of countries adopt programmes of private and community support aimed at welcoming and opening humanitarian passageways for refugees in the most difficult situations, in order to avoid unbearable expectations and lost time that may never be regained. Interrogation begins with knowledge. Contact with the other leads to the discovery of a secret that everyone carries within and even the gift that it represents, to the opening of self in order to welcome the valid aspects of the other, learning how to love him and overcoming fear, helping him to insert himself into a new community that will always welcome him. Every one of you has your own history, the lady who was accompanying me said. And this history is something sacred, we should respect it, accept it, welcome it and help it to continue. Some of you are under-age: these young men and women have a particular need for tenderness and they have a right to be protected, which includes temporary custody or protective programmes.
I come to you because I want to carry your eyes with me - I have looked into your eyes - your hearts within my heart. I want to carry with me your faces that ask to be remembered, helped, I would say adopted, because in the end you are seeking someone who will bet on you, who will trust you, who will help you to find a future. Such hope has made you come here.
Do you know what you are? You are fighters of hope! Some of you never arrived because they were swallowed up by the desert or by the sea. Mortal men do not remember them, but God knows their names and welcomes them to stand beside him. Let us all take a moment of silence, to remember them and to pray for them ... (silence). To you, fighters of hope, I trust that hope will not become delusion or, worse, desperation, thanks to many who are helping you to not lose your hope. In my heart, I want to carry your fear, your difficulties, your risks, your uncertainty ..., there are too many words: Help us to get documents, the people you love, who are dear to you and for whose sake you are seeking a future. Bringing these things into your hearts and your eyes will help us to work harder toward a welcoming city that is capable of creating opportunities for everyone. For this reason, I urge you to be open to the culture of this city, ready to travel the path that is pointed out by the laws of this country.
The Church is a mother who does not make distinctions and who loves every one as a child of God, her image. Bologna is a city always known for her hospitality. This has been renewed again and again with many experiences of solidarity, hospitality in parishes and religious organizations, but also in many families and in various societal companies. Someone has discovered a new brother to help or a child to help as it grows. And someone has found new parents who want a better future for him. How I would love for these experiences, possibilities for everyone, to be multiplied! The city is not afraid to give its five loaves and two fish: Providence will intervene and everyone will be satisfied.
Bologna was the first city in Europe, 760 years ago, to free servants from slavery. There were exactly 5,855. So many! Yet Bologna was not afraid. They were redeemed by the commune, the city. Perhaps they did it for economic reasons, because freedom helps everyone and everyone can thus agree. They were not afraid to welcome those who were then considered as non persons and to recognize them as human beings. They wrote the names of each of them in a book! How I would like for your names to be written and remembered, so that together you may find a common future.
I thank you and with all my heart, I bless you. Please pray for me.
At 10:40am, te Pope arrived at the Regional Hub for a Meeting with Migrants who are guests and the Personnel who offer their assistance. To welcome the Holy Father, the approximately 1,000 migrants who are guests at the Centre were present. The Holy Father greeted them one by one, making his way on foot through the Square toward the platform that had been set up for the gathering.
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the gathering with migrants
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet you all cordially and I wish to assure you of my closeness to you. I wanted this to be my first meeting in Boogna. This is the habour of arrival for those who came from far away, who made sacrifices that sometimes even you are unable to speak about.
Many do not know you and are afraid. This makes them feel as though they have a right to judge and to do so with hardness and coldness believing all the while that they are seeing well. But this is not the case. We can only see clearly through closeness which produces mercy. Without this, the other person remains a stranger, perhaps even an enemy, and cannot become a neighbour. From a distance, we can say and think whatever we wish, as easily is the case when we write terrible sentences and insults through the internet. If we look at our neighbour without mercy, we cannot take account of his suffering, his problems. And if we look at our neighbour without mercy, we run the risk that God too will look at us without mercy. Today, I see only much desire for friendship and for help. I want to thank the institutions and all the volunteers for the attention and the commitment they have given in taking care of all the guests who are here. In you, as in every stranger who knocks at our doors, I see Jesus Christ, who identifies himself with strangers of every age and condition, whether he is accepted or rejected (cf Mt 25:35, 43).
This phenomenon requires vision and great determination in management, intelligence and structure, clear mechanisms that do not permit distortion or exploitation, even more unacceptable because they are done to his poor. I believe that it is truly necessary that a greater number of countries adopt programmes of private and community support aimed at welcoming and opening humanitarian passageways for refugees in the most difficult situations, in order to avoid unbearable expectations and lost time that may never be regained. Interrogation begins with knowledge. Contact with the other leads to the discovery of a secret that everyone carries within and even the gift that it represents, to the opening of self in order to welcome the valid aspects of the other, learning how to love him and overcoming fear, helping him to insert himself into a new community that will always welcome him. Every one of you has your own history, the lady who was accompanying me said. And this history is something sacred, we should respect it, accept it, welcome it and help it to continue. Some of you are under-age: these young men and women have a particular need for tenderness and they have a right to be protected, which includes temporary custody or protective programmes.
I come to you because I want to carry your eyes with me - I have looked into your eyes - your hearts within my heart. I want to carry with me your faces that ask to be remembered, helped, I would say adopted, because in the end you are seeking someone who will bet on you, who will trust you, who will help you to find a future. Such hope has made you come here.
Do you know what you are? You are fighters of hope! Some of you never arrived because they were swallowed up by the desert or by the sea. Mortal men do not remember them, but God knows their names and welcomes them to stand beside him. Let us all take a moment of silence, to remember them and to pray for them ... (silence). To you, fighters of hope, I trust that hope will not become delusion or, worse, desperation, thanks to many who are helping you to not lose your hope. In my heart, I want to carry your fear, your difficulties, your risks, your uncertainty ..., there are too many words: Help us to get documents, the people you love, who are dear to you and for whose sake you are seeking a future. Bringing these things into your hearts and your eyes will help us to work harder toward a welcoming city that is capable of creating opportunities for everyone. For this reason, I urge you to be open to the culture of this city, ready to travel the path that is pointed out by the laws of this country.
The Church is a mother who does not make distinctions and who loves every one as a child of God, her image. Bologna is a city always known for her hospitality. This has been renewed again and again with many experiences of solidarity, hospitality in parishes and religious organizations, but also in many families and in various societal companies. Someone has discovered a new brother to help or a child to help as it grows. And someone has found new parents who want a better future for him. How I would love for these experiences, possibilities for everyone, to be multiplied! The city is not afraid to give its five loaves and two fish: Providence will intervene and everyone will be satisfied.
Bologna was the first city in Europe, 760 years ago, to free servants from slavery. There were exactly 5,855. So many! Yet Bologna was not afraid. They were redeemed by the commune, the city. Perhaps they did it for economic reasons, because freedom helps everyone and everyone can thus agree. They were not afraid to welcome those who were then considered as non persons and to recognize them as human beings. They wrote the names of each of them in a book! How I would like for your names to be written and remembered, so that together you may find a common future.
I thank you and with all my heart, I bless you. Please pray for me.
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