Pope Francis has expressed his “pain and shame” for the nearly 2,000 migrants killed in the Mediterraneana fact that he has described as an “open wound” of humanity, as he stated after the recitation of the Marian Angelus prayer this Sunday.
“And with pain and shame it must be said that since the beginning of the year there are already almost 2,000 men, women and children who have died in this sea trying to reach Europe. It is an open wound of our humanity,” he stated.
“I encourage the political and diplomatic efforts that try to heal it in a spirit of solidarity and fraternity, as well as the efforts of all those who work to prevent shipwrecks and rescue migrants,” he added.
Pope Francis already alluded this week to the latest tragedy experienced in the Mediterraneanthe sinking of a migrant ship off the Italian island of Lampedusawhere 41 people died.
“I have received with pain the news of a new shipwreck of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Let us not remain indifferent to these tragedies and pray for the victims and their families,” Francis said last Thursday on his Twitter account.