OUR leaders have failed when it comes to placing our refugee intake within the context of the global displacement of people.
Other nations, too, have their Christmas Island.
In his first trip outside Rome, Pope Francis visited the Sicilian island of Lampedusa “to pray, to make a gesture of closeness” with the immigrants and the citizens of Lampedusa, following a recent tragedy at sea.
Nearer to Africa than Europe, this tiny island has become the primary European entry point for refugees and migrants seeking to escape hardship and persecution.
Thousands have lost their lives in the risky crossing.
Holding a wooden crozier the Pope spoke from a platform, both made from the wood of wrecked boats piled up on the shoreline.
Reflecting on the first questions God addressed to man: “Adam, where are you?” “Cain, where is your brother?”, the Pope asks us to examine our own consciences on responsibility for these deaths at sea, even as he adds a further question: “Who has wept for the deaths of these brothers and sisters?”
Challenging us to recognise those who make these journeys as our neighbour, the Pope, calling us to weep over our indifference, urges us not to be “closed in on our own well-being in a way that leads to anaesthesia of the heart”.
GENEVIEVE CAFFERY
Greenslopes, Qld
