Hospitality
“I would like to express particular gratitude to Italy, which in these years has shown an open and generous heart and offered positive examples of integration”. Pope Francis paid tribute to Italy for its efforts in the migration crisis. “It is my hope – Pope Francis continued – that the difficulties that the country has experienced in these years, and whose effects are still felt, will not lead to forms of refusal and obstruction, but instead to a rediscovery of those roots and traditions that have nourished the rich history of the nation and constitute a priceless treasure offered to the whole world”. The Pope went on to express his appreciation for the “efforts made by more than a few countries in Asia, Africa and the Americas that welcome and assist numerous persons” and by “other European states, particularly Greece and Germany”. According to Pope Francis, it must not be forgotten that “many refugees and migrants seek to reach Europe because they know that there they will find peace and security, which for that matter are the fruit of a lengthy process born of the ideals of the Founding Fathers of the European project in the aftermath of the Second World War”. “Europe should be proud of this legacy, grounded on certain principles and a vision of man rooted in its millenary history, inspired by the Christian conception of the human person”, Pope Francis remarked: “The arrival of migrants should spur Europe to recover its cultural and religious heritage, so that, with a renewed consciousness of the values on which the continent was built, it can keep alive her own tradition while continuing to be a place of welcome, a herald of peace and of development”.
