Amongst those present for the publication of the 2014 Centro Astalli Annual report in Rome, was the Director of the Vatican Press Office, Fr Federico Lombardi SJ.
The event took place as yet another rescue effort by the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean lent assistance to an overcrowded boat in difficulty carrying some 200 people, many of whom women and children. Amongst them, at least one person has reportedly died.
The Centro Astalli, which is part of the Jesuit Refugee Service umbrella, and works in Rome to offer a wide range of services to the tens of thousands of forced migrants who arrive in the city, was spotlighted last September when Pope Francis chose to spend some time with the refugees there, showing his solidarity and support for their cause and their search for freedom and dignity.
In the year 2013 the Centre received 21,000 requests from asylum seekers and forced migrants, struggling to provide them with first assistance, legal assistance, medical care and cultural tools. This, against all odds, in a city which is seriously undermined by the global economic crisis and soaring levels of unemployment.
Fr Lombardi points out that, with his actions as well as his words, the Pope shows the way in receiving, accepting and integrating forced migrants and refugees, putting into practice a new “culture of encounter”.
Speaking to a crowded auditorium, Fr Lombardi said that Pope Francis’ presence at the JRS-run centre and soup kitchen, suddenly gave visibility to the tragic predicament of the tens of thousands of poor and vulnerable people who arrive on our shores in search of peace, dignity and freedom, and find themselves fighting against all odds in a society that is struggling in the throes of the economic crisis.
Fr Lombardi spoke of Francis’ extraordinary warmth and charisma, of his capacity to reach out and communicate with the directness that we have all come to appreciate so much.
However he pointed to a line of continuity saying that the particular attention of the Pope for forced migrants and refugees goes back a long way in the history of the Papacy. He pointed to speeches by Popes Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XII, Paul VI, John Paul II (and his many visits to refugee camps during his journeys), and Benedict XVI and his speeches and his moving visit to a refugee camp in the Holy Land – all of them witnesses of the Church’s commitment to support and be close to these most vulnerable people.
“I am here to witness the great attention of Pope Francis for this problem” he said.
Right from the beginning of his Pontificate, Lombardi says – Pope Francis has had the question at heart, not only with his reflections, but also taking concrete initiatives in this field.
“His trip to Lampedusa was the first sign of incredible strength (in this regard), then he came to visit, here in Rome the Astalli Centre as a second step in his interest of the ‘way’ of the refugees” he said.
After their difficult journey from Africa and the dangerous sea crossing that brings them to Europe “they have to be received here, to be helped for their integration into society, and this is the great value of the activity of the Centro Astalli: to try to find concrete models to help the people, through language, through different legal procedures and so on, to find a way to become an active part of society in lands that accept them as citizens with total dignity” he said.
This is really the aim – Fr Lombardi said – of Centro Astalli and of all the activities of Jesuit Refugee Service and of the activities of the Church for refugees: “to help people that cannot be recognized in their dignity in their homelands, to find lands where they can be really active, creative and positive members of society”. This is what we have to do and the Pope demonstrated his full commitment to go in this direction.
Fr Lombardi recalls that Francis also invited religious communities to open up their convents to offer hospitality and welcome to refugees.
“We have to find concrete actions and models to help refugees to find the way to a free and dignified participation in society”.
As highlighted by the Annual Report, one of the obstacles many forced migrants have to face is a cultural one as often, they are seen with fear and mistrust. In this regard Fr Lombardi says “from our side we need an attitude, an attitude of readiness to understand and to listen with patience because it is not always so easy to do” he said.
He also pointed to concrete measures like helping them in understanding the language, the laws and the organization of the society that is receiving them.
“In this sense we offer a first assistance like food and lodging, but we also have to give a cultural and spiritual reception to them” he said.
Fr Lombardi says that Pope Francis’s behaviour offers an example: “he does first what we have to do; he flies where the problems are – where the refugees arrive; he goes to the Centre where the refugees come every day to be accepted, and then he demonstrates that we have to engage in this direction,” he said.
“He has not the solution, the theoretical or political or social solution, but he gives us the inspiration and the direction,” he said. [Vatican Radio]
Listen to Linda Bordoni’s interview with Fr Lombardi.
For more information (in Italian) on Centro Astalli, visit www.centroastalli.it