Pope makes good-neighbor visit to island
In this Sunday's gospel account of the Good Samaritan, Jesus challenges his audience to consider what it means to be a good neighbor. Pope Francis used the first pastoral visit of his papacy to challenge church and world on the same theme. Upending protocol and politics on a visit to the tiny island . . .
In this Sunday's gospel account of the Good Samaritan, Jesus challenges his audience to consider what it means to be a good neighbor. Pope Francis used the first pastoral visit of his papacy to challenge church and world on the same theme. Upending protocol and politics on a visit to the tiny island of Lampedusa off the coast of Sicily to pray for refugees and migrants lost at sea, Francis criticized "global indifference" to the refugee crisis: "Today no one in the world feels responsible for this; we have lost the sense of fraternal responsibility.
“We have fallen into the hypocritical attitude of the priest and of the servant of the altar that Jesus speaks about in the parable of the Good Samaritan," said Francis in a direct reference to the Sunday gospel. "We look upon the brother half dead by the roadside, perhaps we think 'poor guy,' and we continue on our way, it's none of our business; and we feel fine with this.”
Lampedusa is only 113 kilometers from Tunisia and has been the first point of entry to Europe for more than 200,000 refugees and irregular migrants who have passed through the island since 1999. The Italian coast guard had just rescued a crippled ship with 165 Eritreans on board only hours before the pope's arrival.
The pontiff flew to Lampedusa from Rome on Monday morning and immediately boarded a port authority cutter that has been involved in the rescue of more than 30,000 refugees in recent years, according to the Italian coast guard. Outside the port the pope paused to pray at the sight of a deadly 2011 shipwreck before launching a wreath of flowers into the water to commemorate the lives of those lost at sea "in search of a better life."
On arriving in the port the pope then met 50 selected migrants including men, women, and children who were both Christian and Muslim and listened to their stories about their perilous voyage from North Africa. The pope then held a mass for 15,000 people under a blazing sun at an outdoor sporting center on the island. Standing at an altar made of the wooden remnants of refugee boats and dressed in purple robes normally reserved for Lent, Pope Francis gave an emotional homily focused on "global indifference" to the refugee and irregular migrant problem.
Homily hint: Though we’d all like to identify with the Good Samaritan in this Sunday’s gospel, when we are honest with ourselves we see a lot of the priest and the Levite in ourselves. Perhaps we can do a little better in community, with the support with others who, like us, would like to get on the right side of the road and be good neighbors.
“We have fallen into the hypocritical attitude of the priest and of the servant of the altar that Jesus speaks about in the parable of the Good Samaritan," said Francis in a direct reference to the Sunday gospel. "We look upon the brother half dead by the roadside, perhaps we think 'poor guy,' and we continue on our way, it's none of our business; and we feel fine with this.”
Lampedusa is only 113 kilometers from Tunisia and has been the first point of entry to Europe for more than 200,000 refugees and irregular migrants who have passed through the island since 1999. The Italian coast guard had just rescued a crippled ship with 165 Eritreans on board only hours before the pope's arrival.
The pontiff flew to Lampedusa from Rome on Monday morning and immediately boarded a port authority cutter that has been involved in the rescue of more than 30,000 refugees in recent years, according to the Italian coast guard. Outside the port the pope paused to pray at the sight of a deadly 2011 shipwreck before launching a wreath of flowers into the water to commemorate the lives of those lost at sea "in search of a better life."
On arriving in the port the pope then met 50 selected migrants including men, women, and children who were both Christian and Muslim and listened to their stories about their perilous voyage from North Africa. The pope then held a mass for 15,000 people under a blazing sun at an outdoor sporting center on the island. Standing at an altar made of the wooden remnants of refugee boats and dressed in purple robes normally reserved for Lent, Pope Francis gave an emotional homily focused on "global indifference" to the refugee and irregular migrant problem.
Homily hint: Though we’d all like to identify with the Good Samaritan in this Sunday’s gospel, when we are honest with ourselves we see a lot of the priest and the Levite in ourselves. Perhaps we can do a little better in community, with the support with others who, like us, would like to get on the right side of the road and be good neighbors.
Source: An article by Barbie Latza Nadeau for CNN