Pope: Immigration a great challenge of our time

Pope: Immigration a great challenge of our time



Benedict also raised the issue of immigration, which is a core social concern in Malta, which shoulders a major share of the European burden for welcoming African immigrants.


Vatican spokesperson Fr. Federico Lombardi had asked journalists to submit questions in advance of the trip for Benedict XVI, and said that the pope’s brief remarks this afternoon represented his “synthetic” response. Benedict spoke for roughly four minutes.


The following is a rush transcript of Pope Benedict’s remarks on the plane to Malta, which were delivered in Italian.


(...)


The third point is that Malta is a place where waves of refugees arrive from Africa and knock on the doors of Europe. This is a great problem of our time, and naturally it can’t be resolved just by the island of Malta. All of us have to respond to this challenge, first of all so that people can live a dignified life in their own land, and on the other hand so that these refugees can also find space for a dignified life here. It means responding to a great challenge of our time, and Malta reminds us of these problems. It also reminds us, as you know, of the force of charity, which allows us to respond well to these challenges. Thank you.


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Source: NCR (English)