The first paragraph in n.13 presents the need for a sign of hope to migrants and captures a lot of the reality of the situation of migrants at this particular time in our world: “Signs of hope should also be presentfor migrants who leave their homelands behind in search of a better life for themselves and for their families. Their expectations must not be frustrated by prejudice and rejection. A spirit of welcome, which embraces everyone with respect for his or her dignity, should be accompanied by a sense of responsibility, lest anyone be denied the right to a dignified existence. Exiles, displaced persons and refugees, whom international tensions force to emigrate in order to avoid war, violence and discrimination, ought to be guaranteed security and access to employment and education, the means they need to find their place in a new social context.”
There is a lot of prejudice, rejection and racism expressed towards people who have to leave their own place to find peace and freedom from war, violence, and social injustice due to the intolerance of dictatorships. Their fearand anxiety are added to at times by a negative approach to them in the places they find themselves in and quite often their journeys from their native home to their destination can be dangerous and filled with horrendous treatment by those who manipulate them when they are most vulnerable.
Pope Francis calls for ‘a spirit of welcome, which embraces everyone with respect for his or her dignity, should be accompanied by a sense of responsibility, lest anyone be denied the right to a dignified existence.” He continues in the second paragraph of n.13 by referring specifically to the Christian community and how and why they should help people who are migrants. He says:
“May the Christian community always be prepared to defend the rights of those who are most vulnerable, opening wide its doors to welcome them, lest anyone ever be robbed of the hope of a better future. May the Lord’s words in the great parable of the Last Judgement always find an echo in our hearts: ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me’ for ‘just as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me’ (Mt 25:35.40).”